2021 Film "Bruised" Now Trending on Netflix's "Top 10" List

“Bruised”

Directed by Halle Berry. Written by Michelle Rosenfarb. Starring Halle Berry, Adan Canto, Danny Boyd Jr., Sheila Atim, Shamier Anderson. Released in theaters Nov. 17, 2021. Streaming on Netflix.

Rating: B-

By Erin Fennell

The 2021 drama “Bruised” started trending on Netflix this past week. Landing on the platforms “Top 10 Trending” list, the Halle Berry film did not make it on my top 10 list. The film follows the downfall of a professional female MMA fighter, Jackie Justice (Halle Berry). Four years later, you see that after her defeat in the first scene she has left the UFC and lives in poverty. She gets harassed by people who recognize her in stores and on the street. She fights with her manager, who is also her boyfriend, Desi (Adan Canto). She drinks constantly. She is completely miserable but won't get back in the ring.

To try and bring Jackie back to life, Desi brings her to a basement brawl, which is an underground fight with no refs and no rules. He says he's there because he wants to sign a girl who is supposed to be fighting there that night. But when they get there Jackie gets recognized and challenged. She gets cornered and has no option but to fight a woman known as “Werewolf”. She wins. After, she's approached by a man known as Immaculate (Shamier Anderson) who runs Invicta FC, the biggest female fighting league. He promises if she fights for him, he'll get his trainer Bobbie, aka Buddhakan, (Sheila Atim) to get her ready to go back to the UFC.

Just when things are looking good for Jackie's career, she learns that the baby she abandoned with the father four years ago turns up at her door. Manny (Danny Boyd Jr), the six-year-old boy, witnessed his father’s murder and is now mute. Jackie must turn her life around for her son, and navigate her professional comeback, while raising a child with trauma.

I am usually a fan of Halle Berry, and it was nice to see her step outside of her usual roles, but this film just didn't interest me. I tried to put my personal dislike for movies about MMA and that genre aside while watching, and look more into the acting, production, and overall translation of the plot.

As I mentioned, this was a new type of character for Halle Berry to play, and I was impressed with how well she executed the dreary role. I also enjoy watching Adan Canto in productions, such as “Designated Survivor” and “Two Hearts”. This is also a new type of character for him to play, at least from what I have seen from him. He typically plays the good-hearted hero, and in this he is more of a money hungry, not-so-standup guy. Again, this was an impressive transition from him, and he played the role very believably.

The camera angles were my least favorite part of this film. The first scene shows a fight from the eyes of the fighter getting hit. It is very blurry and shaky. While very realistic, it is hard for me to watch that type of camera movement. There were also many close-up scenes that went in and out of focus which I didn’t love. I found it unnecessary and didn’t really add anything to the scenes.

In addition, the overall look of the film was very grey and depressing, which worked great with the depth and despair of the story, but initially wasn’t too pleasing for the viewer. I did like however that by the end, it was a more colorful scene, showing the use of aesthetics to emphasize the changing mood and storyline.

The plot itself flowed well. Everyone loves a good comeback movie and seeing someone turn their life around. This movie is more about building relationships with others than it is about fighting, and that was a pleasant surprise. The character development from the characters pulled the story together. The messages within the film and in each character displayed important values. The film touched on hard topics like abuse and abandonment, as well as the importance of self-belief and determination. The premise of the film was that no matter how impossible something seems, if you work hard enough you can achieve all your goals, whether that is becoming a winning fighter, or becoming a good parent.

I did not love this movie, but that may primarily be because this is not my favorite type of genre. Putting my bias aside, the acting, cinematography and storyline was well done. The overall film was slightly too slow but had a good transition into the important parts. I don't think I would recommend this movie unless the individual is looking for a gritty type of film that is violence heavy. I am rating this a “B-”, not just for personal dislike of the genre, but for the negative aspects like filming, aesthetic, and the overall translation of the film. Frankly, I just didn’t enjoy it and found it hard to keep my attention.