United Kingdom | 2024 | 99m | English

The Cut stars Orlando Bloom as a nameless boxer who needs to lose about 30 pounds within 6 days in order to qualify for a rare chance at a comeback. He enlists the help of a shady trainer played by John Turturro, whose willingness to stop at nothing inspires Bloom’s character to adopt an extreme, dangerous weight loss regimen, much to the protests of his partner, played by Caitríona Balfe.

The Cut is not a boxing movie. Most of it takes place in cramped and dingy hotel rooms, not the ring. There are more scenes of men stepping on scales than there are scenes of guys getting punched. The Cut is a psychological drama about obsession and unbreakable cycles of self-abuse. There’s no rational reason for the boxer to put himself through such harrowing punishment for such an arbitrary and unnecessary goal. In one long, quiet scene between Bloom and Balfe, the boxer attributes it to a “hunger” to return to the sport that hasn’t left him ever since he was badly defeated years ago. But perhaps the boxer commits to absolute suffering because that’s all he’s ever known and because that’s precisely what he has honed a unique ability to endure, for better or worse, because of the trauma of his childhood, which we see in a series of lurid, black-and-white flashbacks. As the weigh-in draws nearer, the scenes progressively become more unhinged, mirroring the boxer’s precipitously declining physical and mental state. This all leads to a wild, shocking, and clever climax.

The grueling body-horror of The Cut isn’t for everyone, but Orlando Bloom’s commitment to the part (I’ve seen conflicting information online that he lost either 33 or 53 pounds for the role) elevates the film. I recommend it for audiences who want an intense, brutal story about an aspect of boxing that doesn’t normally make it onscreen.

3.5/5

Viewed at the world premiere on September 5, 2024 at the Princess of Wales theater as part of the Toronto International Film Festival 2024.