Sporting competitions exist for the enjoyment of others but have been linked to many troubling health risks. That hasn’t stopped many events and institutions from continuing to be popular and to attract those who are willing to do whatever it takes to compete and win. Intense physical transformations are often necessary, and there may be no going back from what someone has done and believed to be temporary in order to be eligible and equipped to take home victory. Sean Ellis’ The Cut explores the dark side of that drive to be the best.
Favored to win a fight, The Boxer (Orlando Bloom) suffers a brutal blow to his eye and is forced to leave the ring. A decade later, he and his wife Caitlin (Caitríona Balfe) operate a gym and seem to be happy. But when The Boxer learns of a fighter’s untimely death just before a big match, he can’t resist the chance to get back into it and get one more shot at glory. The problem? He’s thirty pounds heavier than he should be, and he has only nine days to make weight. With the concerned support of his wife, he begins a vicious, tireless effort to lose everything he can in order to win it back and prove what he needs to himself.
The premise of this film doesn’t sound all that unfamiliar, and there are numerous stories, both factual and fictional, of athletes determined to make it with one last unforgettable comeback. But this film isn’t even really about the match, but instead this person and the lengths he’ll go to in order to prepare himself. Haunted by memories and disturbing visions of his mother (Clare Dunne), seen in unsettling flashbacks to a childhood in war-torn Ireland, the Boxer barely seems present even before he takes dangerous steps to chisel himself down, setting the stage for a worrisome process he may not survive.
Two recent festival films – Magazine Dreams, which is likely never to be released due to its problematic star, Jonathan Majors, and Love Lies Bleeding – offered an insightful and deeply worrying look at those who can all in to make their bodies able to do incredible and in some cases unfathomable things. While there is an industry that compels them to do that, the crucial difference is that they’re making those choices on their own. Here, there is a whole circle of people who are irresponsibly encouraging and even pushing The Boxer to achieve this wholly unadvisable feat, including Boz (John Turturro), a ruthless trainer who wears his heartlessness as a badge of honor since he is willing to do literally anything to get what he wants.
Bloom, who two decades ago was a major franchise star with roles in both The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, is completely unrecognizable as The Boxer. The way he moves feels as if he’s barely awake, particularly as his body stops responding following nonstop efforts to extract and wipe off all sweat, cut off fluids, and exercise with no breaks. It’s an extremely physical performance that adds to the terrifying nature of this process, since The Boxer seems unable to stand up by himself or walk a few feet, let alone take down a competitor who hasn’t had to go to such lengths to make weight.
Opposite Bloom, Balfe, best known to audiences for her roles in Outlander and Belfast, is full of spirit and passionately ready to argue for the wellbeing of her husband and anyone who would try to go against him. Watching The Boxer’s troubling transformation through her eyes adds to the intensity and will certainly inspire audiences to ask whether any of this is actually worth it. Turturro excels at being cruel and unfeeling, all business mixed with an unhealthy dose of meanness to make his work all the more effective. The Cut is not an easy watch, but it does demand attention, hurtling towards a questionable finish that only underlines its core message as a cautionary tale.
Grade: B
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The Cut makes its world premiere in the Special Presentations section at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.