“Christy,” based on the biopic of boxer Christy Martin, has made Sydney Sweeney stand out from her usual Hollywood persona.
A boxing movie has finally yanked Sydney Sweeney out of her restrictive Hollywood box.
She takes a big swing in “Christy,” the biopic of the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” fighter Christy Martin that had its world premiere Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Instantly, the beaming star of “The White Lotus” and “Anyone But You” disappears.
Well, almost.
“They said it felt like I had demons,” Sweeney’s Martin says at the start in a deep brogue reminiscent of Amanda Seyfried’s Elizabeth Holmes on “The Dropout.”
“Maybe it’s true. Maybe I do.”
Sweeney very well might.
The darkness she tapped into on HBO’s “Euphoria” scarily resurfaces, but in a more mature, extremely challenging role that spans all the way from 1989 to 2012, and includes glorious career highs and unfathomable personal lows.
Some of those, you’ll wince at.
The quality Sweeney does bring from her fluffier films — and it’s an essential element of her biggest and best performance so far — is an inner light that Martin keeps aflame as her life horrifyingly falls to pieces.
Not all scenes are note perfect, but we’re with her every extremely challenging step of the way thanks to Sweeney’s inviting energy.
For those who don’t remember Martin’s harrowing story, there will be shock and recoiling in the second half.
