The Smashing Machine

Play trailer

2:30

The Smashing Machine

R

2025

2h 3m

Biography

Drama

Action

Sports

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

70%

Tomatometer

303 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Verified Ratings

The true story of mixed martial arts and UFC fighter Mark Kerr, whose obsession with greatness made him a legend -- and nearly cost him everything.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Dwayne Johnson goes the distance with his transformative turn as Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, a gritty biopic that sidesteps cliché even at the expense of narrative satisfaction while still landing the dramatic body blows that count.

Read Critics Reviews

Audience Says

While The Smashing Machine may not break any records as a sports classic, Dwayne Johnson’s knockout performance transforms a familiar story into an unexpectedly memorable experience.

Read Audience Reviews

Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (LAist)

Dec 31

I thoroughly enjoyed the performances in this particularly in this movie. The movie is a little bit mixed... Dwayne Johns and Ryan Bader really captured these characters.

Go to Full Review

Peter Travers

The Travers Take

Oct 31

3/4

It'll be a hardsell for audiences to accept Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a genuine actor ready to emerge from the exhibitionist surface of his wrestler’s body and indestructible movie-star appeal. But he does that here and passes with flying colors.

Go to Full Review

Sergio Burstein

Los Angeles Times

Oct 14

This is a machine not worth opposing. [Full review in Spanish]

Go to Full Review

Graeme Tuckett

The Post NZ

6d

4/5

Put away all your preconceptions about "fight movies" and go and have a look. You might be as impressed as I was.

Go to Full Review

Manuel Betancourt

FilmWeek (LAist)

Dec 31

There's a muffled sensibility throughout that I think speaks to how [Benny Safdie] was trying to capture Mark Kerr, but to me, all it did was deflate the tension both in the fights and in the personal stuff.

Go to Full Review

Louisa Moore

Screen Zealots

Dec 29

The fights, the travel, and the cycles of addiction are presented with such blunt persistence that they begin to feel more like an endurance test than a work of art that’s designed to draw the audience in.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

2d

It was great. The rock was amazing in it. Only thing I’m going to say is the character the movie was made after was kind of a let down in the end

See more

Dec 14

A classic sports movie showing how to overcome adversity against all odds! One of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s best roles!

See more

Nov 23

Loved it, very well directed with a very unique aesthetic to the film grain giving it that retro vibe and very great acting by Dwayne Johnson, definitely Oscar worthy and giving him the credit he deserves as an actor

See more

Nov 22

Good actors, great story

See more

Nov 19

I thought it was great movie great acting wish the fighting was more in depth but overall underrated movie

See more

Nov 15

well the rock strikes again. he did good playing a UFC fighter mark kerr . good movie

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Benny Safdie

Director

Dwayne Johnson

Mark Kerr

Emily Blunt

Dawn Staples

Ryan Bader

Mark Coleman

Bas Rutten

Self

Oleksandr Usyk

Igor Vovchanchyn

The Smashing Machine: Exclusive Movie Clip - First Real Test

2:31

The Smashing Machine: Movie Clip - Made This For You

1:02

View more videos

Air

93%

97%

Air

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Air

Day of the Fight

85%

91%

Day of the Fight

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Day of the Fight

The Iron Claw

89%

94%

The Iron Claw

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Iron Claw

The Apprentice

82%

84%

The Apprentice

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Apprentice

Stronger

91%

81%

Stronger

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Stronger

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

A Conversation with the Stars and Director of Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Weekend Box Office: Black Phone 2 Enters the chat with $26 Million

Weekend Box Office: Disney Takes the Lead With TRON: Ares

Dwayne & Emily's On-Screen Relationship

1:48

The Smashing Machine: Featurette - Playing 2000s Trivia

1:58

The Rock on Transforming Into Mark Kerr

1:41

'The Smashing Machine' Cast Share the Hardest Part of Their Character Transformations

20:39

The Smashing Machine: Featurette - First Look

1:46

The Smashing Machine: Trailer 2

2:30

The Smashing Machine: Trailer 1

2:30

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

The true story of mixed martial arts and UFC fighter Mark Kerr, whose obsession with greatness made him a legend -- and nearly cost him everything.

Director: Benny Safdie
Producer: Benny Safdie, Dwayne Johnson, Eli Bush, Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia, David Koplan
Screenwriter: Benny Safdie
Distributor: A24
Production Co: Out for the Count, Seven Bucks Productions, A24
Rating: R (Language and Some Drug Abuse)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Action, Sports
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 3, 2025, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 4, 2025
Runtime: 2h 3m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Most Popular at Home Now