Writer-director Welby Ing's feature debut, a homosexual-themed boxing drama, has a gritty edge reminiscent of the late British enfant-terrible filmmaker Alan Clarke, the resemblance cemented by a solid supporting performance by Tim Roth, who made his youthful screen debut in Clarke's bracing Made in Britain (1984), with a similar texture.
The setting is a bleak, working-class seaside town in New Zealand (certain culturally specific aspects may elude American viewers), where a young Jim (Jordan Oosterhof) trains for his make-or-break first professional boxing match under the tutelage of his alcoholic, frequently jobless father Stan (Roth). A peripheral figure in the community is Maori teen Whetu (Conan Hayes), known to all the local school-agers as an outcast homosexual with singing aspirations.
Jim is initially cruel to Whetu, just like the rest of the savagely cliquish youth culture. But after Whetu saves the athlete's life after a jellyfish sting they form a friendship. Jim fancies the idea of using his video-making hobby to help Whetu's imagined music career along; Whetu understands Jim's declaration that the boxing ring is the one place where a lad can feel powerful and in control, no matter what anybody else thinks.
But a vicious homophobic attack, Stan's relentless downward spiral, and the corruption in the fight game stir the pot. And no, viewers with Hollywood-formula expectations, this is no queer reboot of Girlfight (2000); Jim and Whetu do not face each other in the ring, not even for sparring. All the characters are rough-hewn types who can do and say quite detestable things, even the victimized Whetu.
Punch is an enthralling boxing drama. The film explores the complexities of sexuality and growing intimacy within a working-class environment with powerful storytelling and nuanced characters. The picture is recommended not only for LGBTQ shelves but also for international cinema collections.