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Bruised(2021)

R
2h 9m
- Drama
- Sport

Release Date: Nov 24, 2021

A disgraced MMA fighter finds redemption in the cage and the courage to face her demons when the son she had given up as an infant unexpectedly reenters her life.

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Director & Top Cast

Halle Berry
Director

Halle Berry
Jackie Justice

Adan Canto
Desi

Sheila Atim
Buddhakan

Adriane Lenox
Angel McQueen

Heidi Moneymaker
Cold Open Fighter

Jacob Crespo

Nathan Bradshaw

Lela Loren

Mrs. Bradshaw

Denny Dillon

Crazy Esther

Mark Cayne

Teen #1

Julio A. Sanchez

Teen #2

Chandler Acloque

Junebug's Waiter

Gabi Garcia

Randi 'The Werewolf' Jones

Shamier Anderson

Immaculate

Nikolai Nikolaeff

Igor

Danny Boyd Jr.

Manny Lyons Jr.

Stephen McKinley Henderson

Pops

Jennifer Dugwen Chieng

Karima

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States,United Kingdom

Language: English

Showtimes

Your Location or

(U.S. Only)

Summaries

Plot Summary

Four years after forfeiting a major fight, former UFC fighter Jackie "Pretty Bull" Justice lives with boyfriend and manager, Desi, in inner-city Newark. Earning a living as a house cleaner, she relies on alcohol to cope with the tedium of her daily life. He pushes her to start fighting again, but she refuses, angrily blaming him for mismanaging her career.Desi takes Jackie to an illegal underground match, hoping to sign a new fighter. Recognized, the "Werewolf" provokes her into fighting. When Jackie finally loses her temper, she pins the Werewolf down, and headbutts her unconscious. Catching the eye of Immaculate, a local promoter of Invicta Fighting Championships, an all-female MMA league, he recruits her into Invicta FC. He sets her up with Buddhaken and Pops, his best trainers, to get back into fighting shape.Heading home, Jackie and Desi are pulled over by Jackie's estranged mother, Angel. She has brought Manny, her son who she has not seen since he was an infant. He has been placed in her custody after his father, Jackie's former boyfriend, was killed in a shooting. The trauma caused Manny to stop speaking entirely.Manny moves in with his mother and Desi, and Jackie, under Buddhaken's guidance, slowly regains her old form. Immaculate convinces her to sign a management contract with him; infuriating Desi, but they eventually patch things up. Growing closer to Buddhaken, she learns she is also a mother, but has not seen her child in over two years after a messy divorce from her wife. Jackie enrolls Manny in school while learning to be a mother, even dumping all of her alcohol down the sink.Jackie's relationship with Desi deteriorates, until he finally snaps, smashing Manny's keyboard and hitting Jackie in the face when she tries to stop him. She packs up their things, leaving him for good. They, go to Angel, who reluctantly allows them to move in with her until the fight.Jackie will face Lucia "Lady Killer" Chavez, Invicta FC's flyweight champion, in an Atlantic City title bout. Immaculate claims the fight is to get Jackie back into the UFC, but he later angrily admits he recruited her as a can against Chavez.Jackie suffers a panic attack, reliving the memory of her last fight. Manny tries to comfort her, but she screams at him to go away. He runs off, and a stranger brings him to Angel. Already on bad terms with her daughter (as Jackie accused her of letting her boyfriends and Jackie's uncle rape her as a child), Angel scornfully tells Jackie she is an unfit mother and that she will take over caring for Manny.With no one else to turn to, Jackie starts living with Buddhaken, throwing herself into her training. Confessing her fears of returning to the ring, they kiss and become intimate. However, when Buddhaken asks her to consider becoming official, Jackie admits she is not ready and Buddhaken goes on a bender, ending up hospitalized the day before the fight.With only Pops in her corner, Jackie enters the fight against Chavez distracted, so the champion dominates the first round. In the second and third rounds, her confidence builds as she wears down Chavez and wins over the audience. In the fifth and final round, Jackie matches Chavez blow-for-blow, ending in a split decision, where Chavez narrowly retains her championship. Despite this, she and the audience celebrate Jackie's successful comeback.After reconciling with Buddhaken, Jackie goes back to Angel's, promising her son she is going to get them their own place. The women part on good terms. As they walk down the street, Jackie stops to help Manny tie his shoes and he speaks to her for the first time, accepting her as his mother.

Storyline

Jackie Justice is a mixed martial arts fighter who leaves the sport in disgrace. Down on her luck and simmering with rage and regret years after the fight, she's coaxed into a brutal underground fight by her manager and boyfriend Desi and grabs the attention of a fight league promoter who promises Jackie a life back in the Octagon. But the road to redemption becomes unexpectedly personal when Manny - the son she gave up as an infant - shows up at her doorstep. A triumphant story of a fighter who reclaims her power, in and out of the ring, when everyone has counted her out. — Netflix Jackie Justice is a MMA fighter who leaves the sport in discredit. With no future ahead, she engages in the underground fighting scene. She is noticed by a promoter who promises her a life back on the MMA stage. To get back on track will be not as easy as she has hoped. — Frank Liesenborgs A naturally gifted female MMA fighter with unresolved childhood trauma feels undeserving of success and fights only using the rage inside her until she finds an experienced coach and female mentor who sees who she truly is and helps her release all the pain.