BRUISED Trailer
Halle Berry takes on the hallowed fighting genre with Bruised.
In the film, she plays a washed-up MMA fighter now scrubbing toilets to get by. She tries to deny it, but part of her still wants to get in the cage, which becomes a necessity when her son is dropped on her doorstep. He scrapes up all sorts of history she’d rather not remember, not to mention the financial strain of suddenly having a kid to care for. So she takes some unsanctioned fights, which leads to one last chance to get her career back.
Now, Berry isn’t simply playing the fighter seeking redemption. The film is also her directorial debut, and while a fighting movie is a bit of an odd choice for a longtime actor to jump into directing with, it does promise a meaty role at its center. These sorts of movies are so well-worn because their metaphor is so visceral, with the fights in the ring/cage standing in for the fight to simply make it through life, so at least Berry will be working with a solid blueprint.
Co-starring with her is Shamier Anderson, Adan Canto, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and UFC fighter Valentina Shevchenko. The presence of Shevchenko indicates that this might portray the brutal sport realistically, but hopefully, we’ll get a feel-good ending after all the blows land.
Bruised is directed by Halle Berry and stars Berry, Shamier Anderson, Adan Canto, and Stephen McKinley Henderson. It will get a limited theatrical release in the US before being released worldwide on Netflix on November 24th.
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