Film review: The Power of the Dog
A searing western from the director of The Piano

Halle Berry broke two ribs while shooting this clichéd but “gutsy” film about a mixed-martial arts fighter, said Tim Robey in The Daily Telegraph. She stars as Jackie Justice, a former MMA champ who has turned to booze since a disastrous fight knocked her out of her profession, and who now scrubs loos for a living. Two events lure Justice back to the ring: her son Manny (Danny Boyd Jr.), whom she abandoned years ago, is dumped on her doorstep, and a fast-talking promoter (Shamier Anderson) decides to cash in on her hibernating talents. Bruised, which is also Berry’s directorial debut, is a classic redemption story – “with a mother-and-child rapprochement added for good measure” – and while it’s a “marks-for-effort sort of film”, it has bags of “gritty emotional clout”.
The only problem is, the film is “entirely unsurprising”, said Wendy Ide in The Observer. It takes on all the worn-out tropes of the fight movie so earnestly it’s as if Berry “simply isn’t aware” of the clichés splattered across the plot – but there’s a “saving grace” in the form of the British stage actress Sheila Atim, who is “arresting” as Justice’s trainer. Bruised won’t win awards for originality, said Adam Sweeting on The Arts Desk: “think of it as Rocky IX – #MeToo”; but Berry’s performance has visceral force. She has thrown herself into this role with “self-flagellating relish”, setting herself far apart from her “botoxed, plastic-surgeried and multi-implanted peers”. And in the “staggeringly brutal” final slugfest, you feel “every punch, kick and chokehold with numbing force”.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
6 lush homes in the trees
Feature Featuring a glass house in Texas and a home built for a Broncos quarterback in Colorado
-
Brooklyn vs. the Beckhams: trouble in paradise
In the Spotlight Scion of the Beckham clan and billionaire heiress wife Nicola Peltz staged an elaborate vow renewal – and none of his family were on the guest list
-
Alien: Earth – a 'bold' prequel to the space horror classic
The Week Recommends Set two years before Alien, new Disney show pays 'homage' to the original
-
Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black Keys
Feature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
-
Film reviews: Highest 2 Lowest and Weapons
Feature A kidnapping threatens a mogul's legacy and a town spins into madness after 17 children disappear
-
Book reviews: 'King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution' and 'Gwyneth: The Biography'
Feature How the Iranian Revolution began and Gwyneth Paltrow's life in the spotlight
-
Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War II
Feature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more
-
6 stylish homes in North Carolina
Feature Featuring a house with ocean views in Duck and a 1848 cotton-mill-turned-condo in Saxapahaw