Venice Film Festival 2025: The Smashing Machine
Dwayne Johnson is unrecognisable in The Smashing Machine, Benny Safdie's biopic of mixed martial artist Mark Kerr, but the film is lacking in force and depth
When it was revealed that the Safdie brothers, the duo behind Uncut Gems, had split to make their own respective films, there were obvious questions. What are they like individually? What sensibilities did each bring to their partnership? In the case of Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, it’s the softer, naturalistic touch – more Heaven Knows What than Good Time.
Safdie’s observational style balances out his film’s brutal subject matter. Dwayne Johnson stars as MMA fighter Mark Kerr during the late 90s, when the UFC was still in its relative infancy and banned in multiple US states. Despite the violence, the fights are sparse, with the camera shooting at a distance from the action so that the strikes are less seen than heard, the director's past sound mixing experience shining through. The real sparring happens outside of the ring between Mark and his girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt, in a thankless role), who resents him not letting her in while he’s consumed by chronic pain and opioid addiction.
As a character, Mark is surprising. His large, hulking figure betrays the soft-spoken demeanour he has when he's not in combat – and there’s an amusing juxtaposition in the way he tells the press about how he can sniff fear in his opponent’s sweat before laughing off that the fight is all in good fun. In many ways, Johnson is the only person who could’ve embodied this role, but the subtext of casting the most famous wrestler-turned-actor is more interesting than the performance itself.
When Mark cries, he hides his face behind his hands. Of course, that could be explained away as a character choice, that Mark refuses to show his vulnerability – but what seems more likely is that Johnson just doesn't possess the emotional dexterity (and he's further hindered by layers of prosthetics that freeze his face). The Rock is unrecognisable, sure, but that’s not necessarily an improvement. While Blunt wails in agony, begging to be seen through tears, her scene partner is frustratingly stone-faced.
The film is similarly stoic, never staying with any of Mark's struggles long enough to understand the weight he carries on his broad shoulders. Safdie is more than capable of delivering knockouts, but with this solo effort, it's difficult to feel the force of its punches.
The Smashing Machine received its world premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, and will be released in UK cinemas 3 Oct