Sydney Sweeney’s gritty R-rated movie Christy is poised for a comeback after flopping at the box office.

The biopic revolves around the life of professional boxer Christy Martin, from her career success to the harrowing events in her personal life. Sweeney received praise for her transformative and physically demanding performance, and there was even early buzz about her potentially receiving an Academy Award nomination, but the movie only grossed $2.3 million at the box office against a reported budget of $15 million. This came after two other Sweeney movies, Echo Valley and Eden, also financially underperformed in 2025.

Now, Christy is getting the opportunity to make a comeback when it arrives on HBO Max on April 10. The film is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video, Apple TV, and YouTube, but it will now be available to stream for all HBO Max subscribers, several months after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 5 and coming to U.S. theaters on November 7. Read the official synopsis below:

Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney) never imagined life beyond her small-town roots in West Virginia—until she discovered a knack for punching people. Fueled by grit, raw determination, and an unshakable desire to win, she charges into the world of boxing under the guidance of her trainer and manager-turned-husband, Jim (Ben Foster). But while Christy flaunts a fiery persona in the ring, her toughest battles unfold outside it—confronting family, identity, and a relationship that just might become life-or-death. Based on remarkable true events, Christy Martin’s story is one of resilience, courage, and the fight to reclaim one’s life.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 67% critics’ score. In ScreenRant‘s Christy review, Rachel LaBonte compliments Sweeney for how she “sinks her teeth into the physicality of this role and recreates Martin’s strength.” At the same time, LaBonte explains that “the problem is that Christy is almost like two different projects crammed into one, and it leaves its protagonist feeling less like a fleshed-out person and more like an archetype.” This led to an overall score of five out of 10 stars for the film.

As per the impressively high 95% Popcornmeter score, audiences were more impressed by Christy than critics were. Even though the movie performed poorly at the box office, the audience score bodes well for the chance to achieve higher viewership after it begins streaming on HBO Max. It helps that Sweeney is now coming off the success of The Housemaid, which shattered her disappointing box office streak, became a massive financial hit, and quickly had a sequel greenlit.

While Sweeney plays the titular role, Christy‘s cast also features Ben Foster as James Martin, Katy O’Brian as Lisa Holewyne, Merritt Weaver as Joyce Salters, and Ethan Embry as John Salters. James is Christy’s coach who becomes her abusive husband, Lisa is a boxing rival, and Joyce and John are Christy’s parents. The director is David Michôd and the screenplay is written by Mirrah Foulkes and Michôd.

In an interview with ScreenRant, the real-life Martin explained that Christy‘s story is important because people need to “see that they’re not alone, and they can see a path to get out. Sydney did that really well. She became me, and people are responding to this story.” Beyond being a traditional sports film, the story explores the eponymous character as a woman hiding from others that she is queer, along with her experiencing domestic abuse from her own husband.

With Christy about to begin streaming on HBO Max, there are now many other Sydney Sweeney shows and movies on the way. These upcoming projects include Euphoria season 3, The Housemaid’s Secret, and Gundam. Euphoria season 3 premieres on HBO Max on April 12, only two days after Christy arrives on the streaming service, while Kirsten Dunst recently joined the cast of The Housemaid’s Secret and Michael Mando was added to Gundam.