| Director | David Michôd |
|---|---|
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $2.3 million |
In 1989 Itmann, West Virginia, college basketball player Christy Salters enters a local female boxing competition and wins. Impressed by her skills, local boxing coach James Martin contacts Christy and offers to coach her. Christy is initially ambivalent about pursuing boxing, but her raw talent and success at the sport motivate her to continue pursuing it. Meanwhile, her secret relationship with her high-school girlfriend, Rosie, falls apart, and Christy's homophobic mother, Joyce, is troubled by rumors that Christy is a lesbian, causing tension within the family.
By 1995, Christy has moved to Apopka, Florida, with James and opened a boxing gym. James exhibits controlling behavior, but their relationship has become sexual. The couple marry, which pleases Christy's family, particularly Joyce. James, acting as Christy's coach and manager, fails to keep promises to facilitate career connections for her, but the couple manage to arrange a meeting with Don King, a prolific boxing promoter with whom she signs a contract. A series of successes follow, including a win against Lisa Holewyne, an out lesbian whose sexuality Christy publicly mocks.
Christy's rise to fame continues, affording her and James a comfortable life. In a career high, Christy defeats Deirdre Gogarty in a Las Vegas match at the MGM Grand, marking the first female boxing competition to be shown on pay-per-view television. Her profile continues to rise as she becomes the first female boxer on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Don warns Christy about her bravado and patronizing attitude toward her competitors, fearing it may lead to her downfall.
In 2003, at James's suggestion, Christy is committed to fight Laila Ali, feigning a higher weight class to do so. James hires Lisa to help train her, but Christy loses to Ali. Meanwhile, James's controlling nature has progressed to physical abuse, which is suspected by Jeff, Christy's ringside support and a trainer at her and James's gym. The couple also develop a codependent cocaine addiction. Christy confides in her mother about James's abuse and manipulation, which includes forcing Christy to engage in filmed sex acts, but Joyce dismisses it as drug-induced paranoia.
By 2010, Christy's and James's relationship has significantly deteriorated. Jeff tells Christy that James has been stealing money from her for years, leading to a violent confrontation. Determined to leave James, Christy seeks support from Rosie, whom she reconnects with, only to find herself stalked by James. James sends clips from the sex tapes he has made with Christy to her peers and family members before claiming Christy has left him for Rosie, publicly outing her. A defiant Christy returns to their home, where James stabs her multiple times and flays her calf muscle before shooting Christy in the chest with a pistol. Christy manages to flee the house and is saved by a passerby who rushes her to a hospital.
At the hospital, Joyce blames Rosie for James's attack. During her convalescence, Christy is visited by Lisa, to whom she apologizes for her previous hostility, and the two reconcile. Christy returns to her gym, where she is embraced by Jeff and the other staff. Christy resumes boxing without James, who is sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempted second-degree murder. Intertitles reveal that Christy and Lisa married in 2017, and that Christy has become an advocate for victims of domestic violence.