Embattled is a 2020 American sports drama film directed by Nick Sarkisov, written by David McKenna, based on a story by Frank Ragen and produced by Eryl Cochran. It stars Stephen Dorff as a reigning mixed martial arts fighter (largely styled after Conor McGregor) whose harsh and abusive nature brings him into conflict with his son.
IFC Films acquired distribution rights to the film in July 2020.
Plot
Raised by abusive father, Cash Boykins (Stephen Dorff) abandoned his family when his second son was born with Williams syndrome. Over the years, while he made a successful career as an MMA fighter channeling his anger into the octagon, his eldest son Jett (Darren Mann) becomes the caregiver to his younger brother Quinn (Colin McKenna) and decides to be an MMA fighter as well. Father and son will soon find themselves battling each other in the cage.
Cast
Stephen Dorff as Cash "The Slayer" Boykins
Darren Mann as Jett Boykins
David Alexander Kaplan as Young Jett Boykins
Karrueche Tran as Jade Boykins
Colin McKenna as Quinn Boykins
Jakari Fraser as Kingston Boykins
Donald Faison as Mr. Dan Stewart
Saïd Taghmaoui as Claude Yaurek
Elizabeth Reaser as Susan Boykins
Drew Starkey as Tanner Van Holt
Ethan Melisano as Timofei "The Terrible" Kozlov
Brian Walters as Christian Kim
Leopold Manswell as Kareef Hardicke
Brian Oerly as Jamie Ghould
Chip Carriere as Earl Hardy
Adam Karst as Rami Elbahri
Mark Fite as David Adelsberg
Michael Wayne Foster as Richie Simmonsma
Oliver Trevena as Syd Man
Donald Cerrone as Jack "Autograph Jack" Kasandra Bandfield as Alice Yaurek Mimi Davila as Patty Martinez Marie Burke as Amber Jefferson Sienna Novikov as Emma Levesque Ava Capri as Keaton Carmichael Lindsey Garrett as Ms. Malek Marcus Bailey as Daryl Kevin Ianucci as Patrick Drew Scheid as Brian Benjamin M. Pelham as Jerry Demorian Treyse Lizana as Jamar Charline St. Charles as Leticia Mina Ownlee as Gladys Kenny Florian as Himself Tyron Woodley as Himself
Production
The film was shot in Birmingham, Alabama, from September 24 to November 4, 2018.
Release
IFC Films acquired distribution rights to the film in July 2020, and released it on domestic theaters and on VOD on November 20, 2020.
Reception
Box office
Embattled grossed $32,259 only in the United States and Canada.
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average of . The website's critics consensus reads: "Embattled fights genre clichés to a draw while landing enough emotional punches to make this a sports drama worth watching." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 56 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The Los Angeles Times gave the film a great review, describing it as "an exciting, scrappy brawler" and "as a moving family drama, it's a contender."