“The Smashing Machine” is a biographical sports drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Benny Safdie. It stars Dwayne Johnson as former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, alongside Emily Blunt as Kerr’s girlfriend Dawn Staples, with Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, and Oleksandr Usyk in supporting roles. The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Lion and received positive reviews for the performances, notably Johnson’s committed and transformational work and Safdie’s re-creation of the world of MMA and the UFC during its early days. Filmmaker Safdie was kind enough to spend some time speaking with us about his experience working on the film, which you can watch or listen to below. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now playing in theaters from A24. Thank you, and enjoy!
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