Directed By:Benny Safdie
Written By:Benny Safdie
The Smashing Machine
Metascore
Generally Favorable
65
User score
Mixed or Average
5.6
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
63% Positive
35 Reviews
35 Reviews
36% Mixed
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
2% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Sep 1, 2025
90
The Smashing Machine isn’t a sports movie that wants to jerk a Pavolvian response of triumph out of us. It’s after something subtler and more moving. By the end of the film, Mark, who had grown so used to winning, has won in the most transformative way.
Sep 23, 2025
80
For audiences curious to know the ins and outs of the early days of MMA fighting, you'd be better served by watching the 2002 documentary. If, however, you're more curious about the people involved, and if you're someone who feels like either a winner or a loser (or, more to the point, both at once) in life's big match, then The Smashing Machine is for you.
User score
Mixed or Average
41% Positive
45 Ratings
45 Ratings
41% Mixed
45 Ratings
45 Ratings
19% Negative
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
Jan 1, 2026
10
Dwyane Johnson's finest performance yet, heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure, with a stellar supporting cast, and brutal fight scenes! One of the best sports biopics ever made.
Oct 18, 2025
9
This is the realest i've ever seen Dwayne Johnson act on screen, easily the best performance of his career, paired perfectly with Emily Blunt, The Smashing Machine stands out as a powerful and deeply human biopic, it's not just a story about a fighter's career, but about a flawed human being trying to survive his own struggles. The film emotional core lies in Johnson performance, raw, grounded, and genuinely moving, his portrayal, supported by a strong supporting cast and Benny Safdie impressive direction, brings an authenticity that's hard to find in most sports biopics, the story feels familiar in theme but elevated through its honesty and restraint. For two hours, i felt completely immersed in what can only be described as a real human experience, The Smashing Machine captures pain, redemption, and vulnerability without ever feeling over the top, it's one of the most heartfelt and well-crafted biopics i've seen in a long time, and without a doubt, one of the best films of the year.
Sep 1, 2025
78
In some ways, Safdie’s approach seems casual and grounded rather than pumped up, though it’s also raw both physically and emotionally.
Sep 1, 2025
70
Sports biopics are so common that one couldn’t blame Safdie for trying to avoid conventionality, but sometimes the conventions are there for a good reason. In the end, though, he understands that his greatest weapon here is his star. A weapon, and a gift: It’s nice to have the Rock acting again.
Oct 3, 2025
60
Johnson, looking radically different under a cropped black wig, takes this opportunity and wrestles with it. Not since his work for Michael Bay in Pain & Gain has he done anything this out of his comfort zone.
Oct 2, 2025
50
Johnson’s performance is the magnetic center of the film, and unless you’re a huge fan of watching this kind of fighting, it’s also the whole reason to watch the movie.
Oct 3, 2025
35
It’s entirely possible that Benny Safdie was out to craft a different kind of underdog sports movie, one where the audience isn’t manipulated into raising a triumphant fist at the end. But surely the writer-director-editor hoped for more than a disinterested shrug.
Oct 10, 2025
9
Muy buena pelicula tiene muy buenas esenas de acion y peleas la roca hace muy bien su trabajo y te cuenta muy bien su historia y sus problemas con las adiciones lo unico malo es la banda sonora en algunas partes.
Mar 5, 2026
6
(Mauro Lanari) Hypertrophic body, fragile mind. A psyche unable to manage its own smashing machine: physical pain, couple relationship, and the bond with a best friend. In a cinéma vérité style, the movie focuses on Kerr's decline after he admits during an interview that he wouldn't know how to react to a defeat, as it's an unimaginable eventuality for him. Unprepared for his own vulnerability, we witness his unstoppable downfall. It's not just a character study, but an emblem of the sunset of American imperialism. The docu-biopic ends serenely: once freed from his addictions (the craving for control and delusions of grandeur, muscular prowess, wealth, trophies, glory, fame, and his wife), the protagonist seems to have found a happy balance. Dwayne takes on a dramatic role, while Emily plays the Playboy pin-up who marries Kerr. Highly cerebral and unengaging, a predictable flop for A24.
Nov 27, 2025
6
Dwayne Johnson's breakthrough in acting deserves recognition; however, even Benny Safdie's adept handling of realist themes fails to inject sufficient standout elements into this work lacking dramatic tension.
Oct 9, 2025
3
This is a story that didn’t need to be told. “Story” is an overstatement though, it’s mostly just a sequence of disjointed events in chronological order. It’s the definition of melodrama. No conflict, no hurdles, everything is just being blown out of proportion. Scenes (and especially dialogues) go on WAY TOO LONG. Poor effort altogether. Usyk, Rutten, and Bader were good though, gave the film some realism.
Oct 4, 2025
3
The performances were ok???? I wanted to like this film but it’s mediocre at best.
Production Company:
- A24
- Magnetic Fields Entertainment
- Out for the Count
- Seven Bucks Productions
Release Date:Oct 3, 2025
Duration:2 h 3 m
Rating:R
Tagline:The unforgettable true story of a UFC legend.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 2 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Black Reel Awards
• 4 Nominations
