Embattled feels like the kind of movie you’re surprised you haven’t seen a million times already. Not that it doesn’t have plenty of clichés of its own. It’s a story about a father and son. The father is MMA champion Cash Boykins (Stephen Dorff), and the son is the 18-year-old Jett (Darren Mann). Cash is a brash, crass, and way too comfortable with using a variety of slurs. Jett is an ambitious young man who wants to follow in his father’s footsteps as an MMA fighter, training in his gym whenever he isn’t in school or helping take care of his little brother, Quinn (Colin McKenna), who has Williams syndrome.
The film comes from director Nick Sarkisov and writer David McKenna, who is known for scribing American History X and Blow, among others. And before you ask, yes, Colin McKenna is related to David, he’s his son, and he really does have the condition as portrayed in the film. That very condition is the reason why Cash doesn’t take too kind to Quinn, thinking he’s too soft, and interacting with him with the greatest reluctance that is matched only by his estranged relationship with their mother, his ex-wife, Susan (Elizabeth Reaser), who has to take two jobs just to support the two kids while Cash lives extravagantly with his new, younger wife, Jade (Karrueche Tran).
The conflict in the film stems from the fact that Cash is a major asshole, who is unambiguously an abuser. Jett recognizes these negative traits even as he looks up to Cash, even inheriting some of Cash’s violent impulses. In one moment, Jett aggressively pushes a student who threw away a thermos that belonged to one of Quinn’s classmates from his special education class. He’s rightfully called out on it, and clearly shows an ability to grow and change that his father doesn’t appear to have.
It isn’t until around halfway through when the real plot kicks into gear. During a party, Jett sees Cash casually smacking the young son he had with Jade while attempting to teach him how to throw a punch. This triggers a previously repressed memory of a rather harrowing domestic abuse incident from his youth that ended up resulting in Cash and Susan’s divorce. Jett briefly fights Cash, but is quickly separated. This moment is taped, and goes viral, which ends up presenting an opportunity to Cash, one that could result in a lot of money, an MMA match between him and his own son.
That’s essentially the big hook for this, but the film builds up to it quite well. It gives us a chance to really get to know these people, and spend time on their day-to-day struggles. Some of it is done with some broad strokes, but it paints a picture that rung true despite its occasional heavy-handedness. There are elements we’ve definitely seen before, but it’s done with enough panache and verve to remain engaging, especially if you already got a soft spot for this kind of masculine melodrama. By the time it gets to the big fight, which is electric, I was surprised at how invested I was, and the payoff is smart and very well done.
The performances are what really holds a film like this together. Naturally, Stephen Dorff makes a strong impression here. He’s always been one of the more underrated performers out there, and he’s only gotten better in recent years between this and season three of True Detective. I know some might dismiss his work here as over-the-top, and I probably would’ve been one had I not come across people with the kind of demeanor and mindset that Cash has. It’s great how he balances the sinister quality of his actions with the charms of his persona, making gold out of lines like “Hey, is it true the Rock’s coming tomorrow night? That be sweet. Any of you guys seen Skyscraper? That is a fucking masterpiece, man.”
Everyone else is totally rock solid. Mann brings a quiet vulnerability that does a good job at getting you inside his head as he fights against the toxic impulses passed down from his father. Reaser has a warm presence with a compelling dynamic between her and her sons versus the one she has with Cash. I like that Tran has more to do in this than you’d expect, bringing in more personality and agency than you’d expect for the kind of role she has. The only one who kinda sticks out is Donald Faison as Mr. Stewart, the special ed teacher who is also an army vet in a wheelchair that Jett sets up on a date with his mom. It’s not that he’s bad, but in addition to having an able-bodied person cast as a disabled character, his subplot feels rush and underdeveloped.
Admittedly, having a story about tearing down the cycles of abuse revolve around a literal fight between a father and son does sort of muddy the water, thematically speaking. Look, Embattled is by no means perfect, but I think it works where it counts. It may play with formulaic elements, but it uses those to tackle complex relationships in a way that is more nuanced than one would initially expect from a film as unsubtle as this. The MMA match in the final act is stellar, and despite consisting of mostly medium and close up shots and fast edits, it never loses cohesion, placing more emphasis on the intimacy and emotional battle that is going on in the middle of the physical battle. It’s genuinely gripping stuff. It gives you something to root for with a real sense of personal stakes, and the payoff is strong and emotionally satisfying.
Embattled is now out in select theaters and VOD platforms.