Movie review
October 1, 2025 · 123 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Smashing Machine.
Woke representation / casting
Dwayne Johnson, a mixed-ethnicity actor, plays the real white fighter Mark Kerr using extensive prosthetics and a full physical transformation; the ethnic mismatch is audience-visible but presented strictly as an acting challenge with no diversity signaling, quota emphasis, or identity-focused marketing, consistent with the casting director’s realistic, non-ideological approach.
Woke political dialogue
No political speeches, activist language, modern social justice talk, or identity-based exchanges appear in the story or script.
Identity-driven story themes
The narrative centers on addiction, fear of losing, self-worth, and a messy heterosexual relationship shown without empowerment arcs, feminist framing, or any race/gender/queer elements driving the plot.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Review
The Smashing Machine is a 2025 biographical drama written and directed by Benny Safdie. It follows real-life MMA fighter Mark Kerr in the late 1990s as he chases greatness in the UFC and PRIDE Fighting Championships while fighting opioid addiction and a volatile relationship with his girlfriend Dawn. The film stays tightly focused on personal struggles, vulnerability, and the cost of tying self-worth to fighting success, with no audience-visible woke elements such as identity-driven themes, activist dialogue, or representation-focused messaging.
The film observes combat sports pressure and personal downfall in a neutral, period-appropriate way with no activist critiques of masculinity, patriarchy, capitalism, or Western institutions.
Woke character or canon changes
the lead casting choice for a star performer alters the historical figure’s appearance but shows no evidence of being an identity or DEI-driven rewrite of canon or real events.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No public complaints or backlash treat the film as pushing woke, DEI, or activist content; all discourse stays on performances and pacing.
Creator track record context
Key creatives maintain low activist profiles centered on craft and broad storytelling, with no pattern of identity-driven or social-justice work influencing this project.
Production
