As much as we’ve progressed as a society when it comes to LGBTQIA+ inclusion, there’s still a lot of ground to cover in countless areas in which we’re severely underrepresented. One of those areas is sports, in which coming out is still an issue and can harm a person’s entire career. That’s factored in the story of Punch, a sports drama whose trailer Dark Star Pictures shared exclusively with Collider today.
The trailer stars Jordan Oosterhof (The Cul de Sac) as Jim Richardson, a young boy who is training hard for his very first professional fight, and his coach is his father Stan, played by Tim Roth (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law). You can see that father and son see eye to eye when it comes to preparing and pushing it hard on the boy’s fighting techniques. However, it doesn’t feel like the relationship extends much further than that.
You can also tell how Jim’s life will get turned upside down once he meets Whetu (Conan Hayes), and also the conflict he’ll go through once it’s time to balance accepting his identity, pursuing his passion, and meeting his and his father’s expectations. Needless to say, it will get pretty hard as the movie deals with isolation, alcoholism, homophobia, and violence.
The movie is also an important addition to the LGBTQIA+ movie catalog which, as a reflection of real life, lacks stories of the community in sports, as well as the difficulties of powering through a sports career and being able to champion your identity, especially in areas which homophobia is pretty common, like fighting and soccer.
Welby Ings, who makes his feature film directing debut after helming several short films, directs Punch. Ings also pens the script, which is his first feature film screenplay as well. The movie had an early premiere in the 2022 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and also made the official selection at the 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival. So far, it has been met with incredibly positive reviews, with particular praise for Roth’s performance.
Punch premieres simultaneously on Digital, On Demand and in theaters on March 10. You can watch the exclusive trailer and poster below:
Check out the official synopsis here:
Jim is a promising teenage boxer, training under the watch of his demanding and alcoholic father. When Jim develops a relationship with a male classmate, the two are forced to navigate isolation, homophobia, and the brutality of small-town life. As Jim discovers what it means to be gay, he realizes how little strength has to do with heroism.