They Fight review – boxing drama is an emotional gutpunch

Anchored by an indelible André Holland performance, the film finds tenderness and warmth amid its gritty Washington DC backdrop In the lineage of Creed and Million Dollar Baby, They Fight makes yet another compelling case for why boxing remains a timeless allegory for the human condition. This time it’s Walt (André Holland) who’s staring up at a 10-count. Once a luminary on Washington DC’s boxing scene, Walt saw his promising career derailed by the city’s drug trade. After an extended prison stint, he is paroled and intent on reuniting with his old flame (Samira Wiley) and their young son. Walt trudges back to the disregarded after-school gym where he first found his footing in the sweet science, hoping to chart a new path forward, only to be drawn into its revival by the resident counselor, Slim (Wendell Pierce), and a trio of boys spoiling for a fight. But it’s best friends Quincey (Toussaint Francois Battiste) and Peanut (Anthony B Jenkins) who wind up on a collision course for a national title belt as their futures, Walt’s reintegration into society and the gym’s place in DC’s rapidly changing Ward 8 hang in the balance. Like the young fighters at its center,