Originally written July 7, 2026.
Like many others I’ve had a long interest in Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s career, even as he has gone from that guy with the shades on WWF who did that cool thing with his elbow to an inescapable global brand whose frequent Instagram videos from within the iron paradise are outmatched only by his constant overbearing self-promotion of whatever new thing he’s gotten involved in. Between the energy drink endeavors, visits to the Saudi royal family, and that unforgettable moment in which he told the Summer Game Fest audience to enjoy their gaming after delivering a forced ad for his line of Zoa beverages and rolling a trailer for perhaps the most profound flop of his career, Black Adam, there has never been any doubt about it: The Rock is doing a thing and he would like you to buy it.
The failure of Black Adam to establish a new hierarchy in the DC universe like Johnson promised endlessly on his social media channels must’ve lit a fire in him for he immediately threw himself into being a supervillain in WWE, guiding a rip-roaring storyline (if also self-aggrandizing, as the Dwayne Johnson-fatigued might put it) leading up to Wrestlemania XL in which he beat the shit out of crowd favorite Cody Rhodes in a bus lot and instructed his mother to gaze upon her son’s blood as he luxuriated in it like it was organic aloe vera cream. But if Black Adaminitiated a vindictive side of Johnson it wouldn’t last particularly long, or more accurately it would morph into something else entirely—just a year after re-inserting himself in WWE as the Final Boss he would go ahead and star in Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, one of the finest and least blockbuster films of his career. As one might expect Johnson talked a big game about partnering with A24 to do some serious acting for once. What is surprising is that this time he wasn’t kidding: The Smashing Machine actually rules.
Who better for such a hulking self-ambassador to seek out for this sort of acting re-debut than a Safdie brother, one of a now-defunct pairing of guys who love telling stories about larger-than-life figures with tragically flawed personalities. It’s easy to see The Smashing Machine as part of a lineage of films that include the likes of Uncut Gems and Marty Supreme (helmed by the other brother) in that each of these follow professional fuck-ups who nonetheless have their eye on total, indisputable success. In Gems it was Adam Sandler portraying the very definition of frantic gambling collapse. In Marty it’s Timothée Chalamet going for gold as a woefully self-centered table tennis prodigy whose skill is matched only by his own painfully toxic ego. In The Smashing Machine it’s Dwayne Johnson as the real-life mixed martial artist Mark Kerr who knows nothing of losing fights but everything about painkiller addiction and floundering personal relationships at home.
But where other recent Safdie films have featured borderline manic portrayals of desperate men constantly at or near the end of their ropes, The Smashing Machineis a lot more sedate by comparison. That isn’t to say the film drags along or is a bore, but rather that the story of Mark Kerr is more or less one about a relatively regular guy—albeit one who is very large and influential to the sport of MMA—dealing with vices and struggles that are probably more relatable to audiences than the lethally crazed circles of dealings that entrapped Howard Ratner or the singular self-centered madness that propelled Marty Mauser.
Dwayne Johnson portrays Mark Kerr with an uncommon degree of gentleness and compassion, speaking with a soft and sensitive tone that almost feels comical compared to his hulking frame. This is not a heroic, world-saving Johnson but an ambitious and introspective Johnson who will need to reckon with his own vulnerability. It’s an exciting direction for this actor and for once his promises of what he’s aiming to deliver feel lived up to. Alongside him are Emily Blunt, as great as you’d expect as Kerr’s girlfriend Dawn who tries to keep up with his demanding training and addiction regimens, and current MMA fighter and debuting actor Ryan Bader who does a totally fine job portraying Kerr’s friend and fellow competitor Mark Coleman.
The Smashing Machine’s story doesn’t exactly take things in any profound directions, save for a late scene that dramatically and unexpectedly ramps up the stakes for a brief moment, and the film can sometimes feel like B-roll of a documentary about the life of a martial artist. But as it putters along at its own pace it’s an absolute delight to look at and listen to thanks to the use of film and handheld cameras and the wonderful score by Nala Sinephro, who soundtracks the ebbs and flows of Kerr’s story with the rich sounds of harps and synthesizers.
That The Smashing Machine failed as hard as it did to recoup its budget will hopefully be no deterrent to Benny Safdie, who has another great film under his belt, and to Dwayne Johnson, who did what all superstar performers should do once in a while: come back down to Earth.
Notes from Nate 
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