Although appearing under the guise of a female underground mixed martial arts film, Yankee will likely surprise audiences for essentially being a critical examination of cyclical abuse. Canadian filmmaker Stéphan Beaudoin’s latest effort might feel uneven at times, but it manages to jab you in the guts with just the right amount of brutal reality to become an affecting piece of cinema.
The film revolves around Skylar (Devon Slack), a young American woman who flees across the border in order to escape her abusive home. She ends up staying with her cousin Kev (Jean-Philippe Perras) in Quebec, who gets her involved in the underground fight scene in order to pay off his own debts. After losing her first fight in a brutal fashion, Skylar starts training with Chuck (Émile Mailhiot), a former fighter who relies on Kev for his habitual drug fix. With each character battling their own respective demons, Yankee never shies away from exploring the darker corners of the lived experience.
A story set in a microcosm of misfortunes
A lot of interesting ideas are explored in Yankee, and Beaudoin attempts to craft a narrative that somehow pieces everything together in a thematically cohesive way. And by delivering a story set within a microcosm of misfortunes, there’s certainly a clear sense of unity as the story unfolds. The world presented in Yankee is full of imperfect beings, and all are products of their own imperfect environments. This is particularly true for Skylar, who seems to be trapped spinning through a revolving door of abusive relationships. The film illustrates this quite poignantly by confining her character to both metaphorical and physical trapped spaces as the narrative progresses.
The only time Skylar seemingly breaks out of confinement and has some degree of control is during her fighting matches. But what’s ironic is that her decision to step into the ring wasn’t one she made on her own accord, making any semblance of freedom or control simply an artifact of the moment. Beaudoin emphasizes this by always focusing on the scars and bruises on Skylar’s body after each fight, rather than lingering on her moments of victory. The film provides glimpses of happiness but naturally glides back into the revolving door of darker tidings.
A showcase of brutal physicality
I still stand by my assertion that Yankee only poses to be a female underground mixed martial arts movie, but the film still packs in the punches when it counts. There aren’t a lot of fight scenes to dissect, but Beaudoin really hones in on the physicality of each fight by almost pressing the camera against his performers’ faces at times. The impact of each punch and kick resonates with authenticity and drives home the notion of both the mental and physical harm that the narrative speaks to.
Slack has previously asserted herself as an established stunt performer with a long list of credits to her name, and that experience really shows here. She’s clearly a natural when it comes to fight performances, and although the action doesn’t stem from the most complicated choreography, it does feel quite raw and authentic. And much of this is derived from Slack’s laboured physical and facial reactions, which serves as a lens into the more brutal aspects of mixed martial arts.
Final thoughts
Yankee won’t be a film that pleases everyone and will prove to be especially frustrating for those hoping for a straight-up action film with lots of underground brawls. This is a film that’s still very much about the fight, but not just the physical ones. Beaudoin probably could have worked on the film’s pacing and channeled a bit more energy into developing Skylar’s backstory, but these flaws don’t necessarily tarnish what is an otherwise solid effort from a budding filmmaker.
Yankee is playing at Fantasia Film Festival 2020 online, for more information click here.
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