Emily Blunt doesn’t believe in half measures.

Whether she’s playing a time-looping soldier in “Edge of Tomorrow,” a pill-popping commuter in “The Girl on the Train,” or a grief-stricken wife in “A Quiet Place,” she approaches every role with empathy and fearlessness. But even by her standards, Benny Safdie’s “ The Smashing Machine ” pushed her further than ever before.

“When I saw it with Benny, we both sobbed,” Blunt tells Variety . “It’s strange when you make a movie and then see it reflected back at you. You’re on the inside looking out, and suddenly you’re kidnapped into someone else’s vision of the world.”

Johnson, who built his career on charisma and invincibility, is unrecognizable here — literally and spiritually — as Kerr. His co-star is quick to acknowledge the transforma

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