Bruised
Netflix | Release Date: November 17, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
16
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
The A.V. ClubJason ShawhanNov 24, 2021
When it’s firing on all cylinders, Bruised finds the Sirk amid the Stallone, wringing truly grand melodrama out of women reshaping their lives while beating each other senseless. Read full review
75
IndieWireKristen LopezNov 14, 2021
Bruised isn’t breaking any new ground from a narrative standpoint, but it does show the strength of Halle Berry as a director, boasting a powder keg of dominating performances within a simplistic story. Read full review
70
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiDec 3, 2021
While formulaic, Bruised beats the odds by being a fairly entertaining & moving sports drama that has everything one would expect from a Berry film. Read full review
63
PolygonRoxana HadadiNov 26, 2021
Bruised generally lacks the kind of immersion that a story like this demands. It wants us to step alongside Jackie and stay with her, experiencing her pain and her triumph, but it makes the journey from locker room to octagon unfathomably long. Read full review
63
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 23, 2021
Marking the Oscar-winning actress’ feature directing debut, it’s unquestionably a formula film, telling the story of a talented but troubled fighter whose must overcome long odds, crippling self-doubt and tragic life circumstances to achieve in-the-ring redemption. Familiar though that plot might be, it’s the way she fills in the blanks that gives her film a sense of something new. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 16, 2021
It’s the MMA version of Million Dollar Baby meets Rocky in Halle Berry’s directorial debut Bruised, a well-acted and occasionally involving but overly long, cliché-stuffed sports film that hits all the usual notes and piles on the subplot drama to the point where we’re nearly exhausted by the viewing experience. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyDec 10, 2021
As a debut, it’s grungy, overscaled and rarely far from cliché. But it also has guts, and there’s a vigour to the acting that pulls it through. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeNov 29, 2021
What really makes Bruised worth sticking with, however, is the epic closing fight sequence. Read full review
60
IGNMatt FowlerNov 24, 2021
Bruised is a good outing for Halle Berry as a director, though a better reminder of her as a star. Aside from that, however, the story progression is light on impact. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeNov 22, 2021
It’s not badly made, necessarily, just entirely unsurprising. The saving grace is British theatre actor Sheila Atim, arresting and intriguing in a key supporting role. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 17, 2021
Berry brings commitment and focus to the drama. She wins on points. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesMichael OrdoñaNov 16, 2021
The superb fight choreography and committed execution by the two women in the ring (real-life UFC champ Valentina Shevchenko is convincing as Jackie’s opponent), informed by Berry’s skill as an actor conveying Jackie’s desperation, make the final fight thrilling and cringe-inducing — in a good way. Read full review
60
TheWrapYolanda MachadoNov 14, 2021
It’s a valiant effort from Berry, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark, weighed down by a formulaic script, uneven fight direction, and little depth in exploring how a female fighter’s experience might change when a role written as a white, Irish woman is played by a Black actor. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeNov 14, 2021
Impressive as Berry’s commitment to the role can be, there’s a mirthless predictability to the whole ordeal. This pro-forma sports drama, which clearly means so much to its creator, unfolds pretty much exactly as you’d expect, leaning hard on pathos, when what it really needs is personality. Read full review
58
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Sarah HagiNov 22, 2021
Bruised is a well-directed debut: Berry understands how to make a competent sports drama complete with all the emotional training montages and passion that viewers expect. Plot-wise, though, Bruised doesn’t offer more than the genre has delivered time and time again, which is a shame because the film contains some remarkable performances. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 24, 2021
A pull-out-all-the-cliches and throw in a few on-the-nose new ones script leaves Halle Berry’s directing debut, Bruised, a split decision. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiNov 24, 2021
Berry wears two hats effortlessly. Her direction is gritty and assured, and her leading performance hasn’t lost an ounce of that star quality — to simultaneously be so weak and so strong — that won her an Oscar for Monster’s Ball. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonNov 24, 2021
There’s a lot going on and somehow not enough, because the emotional destination is so obvious, the tone so wearying and the performances, mostly, so stilted. The fight scenes, it must be said, are electrifying, especially the climactic battle. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonNov 14, 2021
For a film that aspires to be a frank look at a middle-aged fighter’s hard road back to glory, Bruised too easily indulges in sports-film fantasy, undercutting the story’s inherent bleakness. Read full review
42
The PlaylistAndrew BundyNov 14, 2021
Unfortunately, Halle Berry’s Bruised is a grueling hybrid of your weak, everyday Sundance debut and TV sports movie. Read full review
40
UproxxVince ManciniNov 24, 2021
Halle Berry seems to have discovered that there are lots of stories in the world of MMA. Sadly it seems no one could convince her not to try to tell all of them at once. Read full review
40
EmpireIan FreerNov 19, 2021
Not even Halle Berry’s presence can enliven this stale sports film-family drama mash-up. By the end of it, the barrage of clichés leaves you black and blue. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comRobert DanielsNov 17, 2021
Berry’s Bruised is a familiar comeback tale relying on the inner-city motifs of 1990s hood films to deliver a melodramatic, barely coherent prestige vehicle with very little to say about MMA itself. Read full review
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