Sydney Sweeney Fights for Her Life in Trailer for Boxing Biopic ‘Christy’

Sydney Sweeney experiences highs and lows as boxer Christy Martin in the trailer for the forthcoming sports biopic movie Christy.

Black Bear Pictures releases writer-director David Michôd’s feature in theaters Nov. 7 following its premiere last week at the Toronto International Film Festival. The cast includes Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, Katy O’Brian, Ethan Embry, Jess Gabor, Chad Coleman, Bryan Hibbard, Tony Cavalero and Gilbert Cruz.

Based on true events, Christy stars Sweeney as the titular Martin, who grew up in small-town West Virginia and began to make a name for herself for her fighting prowess. With the guidance of Jim (Foster) — her trainer and manager who eventually becomes her husband — Martin’s profile rises as a boxer amid increasing challenges in her personal life.

“I think I’ve found my thing,” Sweeney says in the trailer while discussing her boxing skills. “I know most people go their entire lives, and they don’t even know what their thing is.”

Later in the footage, Foster warns Sweeney, “If you leave me, I’ll kill you.”

Michôd (The King) helmed the film from a script he co-wrote with Mirrah Foulkes, with Katherine Fugate credited for working on the story. Sweeney and Michôd serve as producers alongside Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Teddy Schwarzman, Brent Stiefel and Justin Lothrop.

Christy premiered Friday at TIFF, where Sweeney’s performance sparked talk of Oscar buzz. At the screening, the actress told the crowd that she worked with a boxing coach for several months: “I trained two to three times a day, every day, and then while I was filming, I trained as well.”

In his review of Christy for The Hollywood Reporter, chief film critic David Rooney called it “an inspirational sports movie that morphs in somewhat ungainly style into an unflinching depiction of domestic violence.” He also wrote that the “movie’s secret weapon is Wever.”