The Smashing Machine

Cast: Dwayne Johnson , Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten & more

Directed by: Benny Safdie

In theaters - 10th October 2025

Rating - *** (3/5)

Every once in a while, an actor surprises you by doing something you didn’t even know you were waiting for. The Smashing Machine is that moment for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. After years of flexing his charisma in blockbuster franchises, here he finally flexes his craft. The film, directed by Benny Safdie, is a bruised, heartfelt portrait of MMA fighter Mark Kerr, a man who could beat the world in the cage but couldn’t quite win against his own chaos.

It’s an emotional uppercut of a film. Safdie turns what could have been a routine sports biopic into a strangely intimate study of addiction, masculinity, and the fragili

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