Fighting with My Family (2019)

Siblings Paige and Zak are given the opportunity to try out for the WWE. When Paige gets a spot in the tough program, she has to leave her family and go it alone. She has to prove she has what it takes to make it in a cutthroat world

Rating: 8.5/10
Genre: Comedy
Related Titles: Walk Like a Panther, We're the Millers, Just go With it
By Leanne Harragan

Based on the true story of the professional WWE wrestler Paige, the film follows her rise to fame and all the hurdles she had to overcome along the way. It's a classic underdog tale turns gold story. Having had a brief look into the likeness of the film to the true story it seems that for the most part it's pretty real and despite being made for the big screen, it's stuck true. 

The film opens in Norwich with the young brother and sister, Zak and Saraya wrestling for control of the TV remote and then egged on by their parents wrestling in the ring in a pay-per-view set up event. Jump forward a few years and Zak Zodiac and Britani (Saraya) head to the 02 Arena for a tryout to appear on WWE Smackdown. From there Saraya is catapulted into the big leagues in America, with one problem - without her brother. From there on the film is full of the sport film classic - training montages with loud music thrown over the top. Saraya also struggles to accustom to her new life in the states surrounded by what shes considers to be 'blonde bimbos', until she herself begins to fake tan and go blonde. 

The film follows the usual pattern of underdog stories - Saraya struggles to make the transition to a new life, she loses connection with her family, shes loses connection to who she is and she struggles to make new connections with her American counterparts. Alongside her story, there is also the story of Zak struggling to come to terms with the loss of his one dream in life - being a professional wrestler. His story despite not being the main one is a nice touch to add more depth to the film and is actually really sweet - including him teaching wrestling to the teens of the local area including a blind teen. 

While it's not the most original story and it does get a little slow at times, it's main family of oddballs keep the pace alive and keep the humour flowing. The humour is seamlessly written in through the characters and it naturally flows without being forced. The cast also bring this film to life with stars Lena Headey and Nick Frost playing parents Julia and Patrick. Their chemistry is good and they help to create a hilarious family dynamic with the help of Florence Pugh and Jack Lowden playing Saraya and Zak. 

Again, being a British film it has the colloquial language and behaviour that is only ever seen in Brit film, I'm a big fan of this because it's just that little bit more relatable. I love the way Saraya interacts with the American wrestlers, her attitude and ability to laugh and make fun of herself is the complete opposite to the way they behave.

Fighting With My Family is fun, features a quirky family and a classic underdog tales. It's well shot and has a good production team behind it, as it look great. It also features some real interviews in the credits of the real family, their likeness to the cast are solid and provide just a little more insight into the true story, so if you watch it, don't forget to stick around for these. 

Rating: 8.5/10

By Rebecca Mannick

From the get go I was super excited about this film. I was a massive WWE fan growing up (back then it was WWF) and any sports movies I'm automatically interested. This is a real-life story about an English girl trying to make it in America as a Divas superstar. Growing up in Norwich in a wrestling family Saraya was always destined for greatness alongside her brother Zak. Her family, mum (ring name Saraya - played by Lena Headey) and dad (Nick Frost) run their own wrestling gym. Wrestling is their lives and getting their son and daughter onto the WWE roster was their ultimate life goal. Saraya was an outcast as she was a stand out punk, she was just different from anyone else which meant that a lot of people didn't fully understand her. Her escape was wrestling and all was going to plan as both Saraya and Zak got a call from Hutch Morgan (Vince Vaughn) to go to London for an audition. Things start to get tricky when Zak doesn't get selected to go on the NXT training camp in Florida. Saraya (now with the ring name Paige) had to prove herself at the top to try and establish herself as a world class wrestler.

Florence Pugh takes the role as Saraya Knight / Paige and she's does a fantastic job. The way she merges Paige's soft vulnerable side to being a feisty wrestler with attitude was brilliant. I can definitely see her as a rising star actress for the future. My parents are always raving about her prior performance in the ITV's drama 'Little Drummer Girl'. What made a huge amount of difference for me - was the casting of some A-Lister Hollywood actors. Especially having Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson involved in this project just makes it so much more legitimate - not only as a stand alone movie but as a sports wrestling movie. 

I also love this movie because of the storyline. It's real and its entertaining. Theres something so fulfilling witnessing something achieve their dreams. What also is so interesting is the family dynamic and how you can imagine the real people to be quite similar in their antics. As much as the movie was about Paige it was also a lot about the rest of the family and especially Zak (Jack Lowden). Finding out about his life not in the WWE and the disappointment and jealously that comes with it. 

I do highly recommend this film. Its an easy watch, very entertaining, a few laughs and also emotional at times. You'll also like it if you are a fan of WWE wrestling as you get an insight into how becoming a superstar works and all the time and dedication it takes.