Starring Orlando Bloom, John Turturro, and Caitríona Balfe, this visceral drama from director Sean Ellis follows a retired fighter obsessed with getting back in the ring — even if it costs him his life.
It looks like a sports movie, but this intensely visceral drama from director Sean Ellis (Metro Manila; Cashback, TIFF ’06) digs deep into the ways we punish the body to relieve a soul in torment. Featuring powerful performances from Orlando Bloom, John Turturro, and Caitríona Balfe (TIFF ’21 People’s Choice Award winner for Belfast), The Cut follows a retired fighter obsessed with getting back in the ring, even if it costs him his life.
The protagonist (Bloom) is known only as The Boxer. And boxing is virtually all he lives for. Ten years ago, a nasty cut took The Boxer out of commission. Ever since, he and his wife and trainer Caitlin (Balfe) have run a successful gym. It should be enough, but when another boxer unexpectedly dies before a title fight, The Boxer puts himself forward as a replacement and the event’s shady promotor decides to make him the new contender — everyone loves a comeback. The only problem is that, to qualify, The Boxer needs to drop a precipitous number of pounds in just six days. Enter Boz (Turturro), a brash trainer infamous for using every possible technique, legal or not.
Many scenes are brutal, yet you cannot look away. Written by Justin Bull and Mark Lane, The Cut is about wounds that will not heal. The harder The Boxer trains, the more painful childhood memories come surging back to haunt him. At the centre of the maelstrom is Bloom, whose dedication to embodying his character’s desperate, ultimately hallucinatory campaign is simply staggering.
JANE SCHOETTLE
Content advisory: themes of disordered eating; violence, mature themes, scenes of surgery, crude content, drug use, coarse language
Screenings
VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre
Scotiabank 4
TIFF Lightbox 7
Scotiabank 3
Scotiabank 8
Scotiabank 9