Bruised

Jackie Justice was once a mixed martial arts fighter, but she left the sport in disgrace and has spent the years since working long hours and struggling to get by, carrying a lot of anger and regret. Her manager and boyfriend Desi talks her into an underground fight, where she catches the eye of a promoter who offers her a route back to the professional cage. Just as that opportunity opens up, the son she gave up as a baby, Manny, arrives at her door, forcing her to deal with being a mother while trying to rebuild her fighting career.

Bruised is an action drama from the United Kingdom and the United States, released in November 2021 and running 129 minutes. It is the directorial debut of Halle Berry, who also stars as Jackie, working from a screenplay by Michelle Rosenfarb. The cast includes Adan Canto as Desi, Sheila Atim as Bobbi Buddhakan Berroa, Danny Boyd Jr. as Manny, Adriane Lenox as Angel McQueen and Shamier Anderson as Immaculate. Linda Gottlieb, Guymon Casady and Basil Iwanyk produced, with Thunder Road, 87Eleven, Head Gear Films and Metrol Technology behind it, on a budget of 11 million dollars.

Audience reactions were moderate: on IMDb the film holds 6.2 out of 10 from around 17,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.8 out of 10 from roughly 488 votes. A critics' rating of 5.7 out of 10 from 91 reviews places it slightly below the IMDb audience figure and clearly below the TMDB one.