Redbelt (2008)

Redbelt follows Mike Terry, an idealistic jujitsu instructor in Los Angeles who clings to a strict code: no prizefighting, no compromising his principles. He scrapes by running a modest academy, training a promising protegé and police officer, Joe Collins, while his Brazilian wife Sondra — from a family that promotes fights — pressures him to earn real money in the ring. A seemingly small accident one rainy night — a woman named Laura Black accidentally fires a gun and shatters the studio window — sets off a chain of increasingly dangerous and morally ambiguous events. After rescuing a Hollywood action star, Chet Frank, at a bar, Mike is pulled into the orbit of the film business: offers of work, a lavish dinner, and a gift that seems to promise rescue from his money problems. But favors and friendships prove fragile. Loans, theft, and a leaked fight idea leave Mike deeper in debt and his integrity under siege. When the people around him — gamblers, business partners, even friends — exploit his good will, the only way to pay his mounting obligations may be to do the one thing he has always refused: step into the ring. Viewers will experience a tense, character-driven drama that blends the grit and physicality of the fight world with slow-building moral suspense. The film explores honor versus survival, the cost of compromise, and how easily principles can be eroded by pressure and desperation. Expect intimate, dialogue-heavy scenes and realistic, hard-hitting fight moments, as well as a mood of moral ambiguity where every choice has consequences. Redbelt is less about spectacle and more about watching a man tested until he must decide what kind of person he will be.

Actors: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Allen, Emily Mortimer

Director: David Mamet

Runtime: 99 min

Genres: Drama, Sport

5.6 /10 69 /100 6.7 /10 6.4 /10