Dwayne Johnson Fights His Way To Awards Season In The Smashing Machine Trailer

The agonizingly long wait for Josh and Benny Safdie's follow-up to their nerve-shredding 2019 masterpiece "Uncut Gems" is finally over, and, on the plus side, we're going to be getting two films from the brothers this year. Whether there's a downside to the fact that they're now working separately remains to be seen.

The first solo Safdie film out of the gate will be Benny Safdie's "The Smashing Machine," a sports biopic about mixed martial artist Mark Kerr's bloody rise to glory in no-holds-barred fighting and the UFC and his subsequent career/personal struggles, which were brought about by rule changes that suspiciously robbed him of certain skill advantages and, as the physical toll of the sport took its toll, an addiction to painkillers. The title refers to Kerr's nickname, which he acquired at the height of his pugnacious powers by bashing his opponents into submission or unconsciousness.

As an early adopter to the sport, Kerr fought in contests that were nowhere near as tightly officiated as we see in today's MMA world. Given Safdie's penchant for making films that seek to rattle and entertain in equal measure (okay, maybe there's a little more emphasis on the rattling aspect), this film has the potential to be a harrowing experience. It'll certainly be a departure for star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who's largely made mainstream, family friendly movies throughout his career. This film also re-teams him with Emily Blunt, who plays Kerr's ex-wife Dawn Staples after starring opposite The Rock in "Jungle Cruise." Is this film going to do justice to the brutality of Kerr's career? Let's take a look at the just-release trailer from A24 and find out!

If you were expecting "The Smashing Machine" to ease back on the Safdies' signature high-anxiety filmmaking with only one of the siblings at the helm, well, it would seem you guessed wrong. The movie's trailer only hints at the dramatized highs and lows of Mark Kerr's life (both outside and within the octagon), but the glimpses we do get are enough to suggest his actual story will play out like a roller coaster threatening to go careening off the rails at any moment. As with his collaborations with his brother, Benny Safdie is also operating as an editor here and appears to be bringing a similar sense of controlled chaos to the proceedings. Meanwhile, cinematographer Maceo Bishop previously served as a steadicam operator and second unit director of photography on "Uncut Gems," so it's safe to say he's got the Safdies' trademark grainy, restless style down pat (as one can patently see from this footage).

Of course, it's The Rock who'll probably make the biggest impression here ... and not just in terms of his daunting physique. "The Smashing Machine" marks the long-awaited return of Dwayne Johnson the aspiring character actor (a guy we haven't really seen since, arguably, "Pain & Gain"), and armed with facial prosthetics and hair that've so far proven to be more transformative than distracting, he's all but destined for awards attention. With Johnson also joining forces with Martin Scorsese on a true story crime drama, he's in the midst of a savvy attempt to reinvigorate his image as a performer and re-establish himself as a serious artist. Ever the calculating businessman, though, he's still got plenty of big IP ventures cooking in the oven too, including new "Jumanji" and "Fast & Furious" movies and the live-action "Moana" remake.

"The Smashing Machine" body-slams theaters on October 3, 2025.