The Main Characters Of Netflix’s Bruised, Ranked By Likability

Bruised is a sports drama film starring Halle Berry that saw a limited release among certain film festivals in the fall of 2020. Released to mostly lukewarm reviews from critics, the film depicts a retired MMA fighter who seeks to get back in the ring after the child she put up for adoption years ago finds his way back to her. Along the way, she is both helped and hindered by the different people in her life.

Halle Berry’s directorial debut may not have been particularly well-received by critics or audiences, but there is still a particular charm about critical flops such as this. Now that the film is available to stream on Netflix, viewers have the chance to experience each of the movie’s characters in an exploration to find which, if any, is the most likable.

8 Desi

Desi is Jackie’s boyfriend, portrayed by Adan Canto. The character is the definition of a deadbeat, a sentiment that even Jackie seems to share during the time that the two are together – which predictably ends relatively early on in the film after his outbursts of anger go too far. He is not seen again after the two go their separate ways.

Desi has very few redeeming qualities, if any at all. He is introduced as an abusive partner in every sense of the word, threatening physical violence against Jackie when he doesn’t get his way. He also openly disregards her wishes, taking her to win money at an underground fight club after she specifically told him that she was happy after retiring from fighting. One of his worst crimes in the film, however, comes after he destroys Manny’s keyboard in a fit of anger.

7 Immaculate

Shamier Anderson plays an MMA league owner named Immaculate, who recruits Jackie Justice after seeing her easily win a brawl in the audience of a fight club. He arranges the central match of the film between Jackie and Lady Killer, always keen on making as much money as he can, the character seems to enjoy betting on the underdogs, almost as if he thinks he is living in a Rocky movie.

The film is clearly trying to set Immaculate up as an antagonist against Jackie, as he proves to have selfish motives for getting her back in the ring. However, the character only appears in a handful of scenes, making him less of the film’s villain and more of a minor annoyance throughout the movie’s events.

6 Angel

Jackie’s mother Angel, played by veteran actress Adriane Lenox (The Blind Side), has a small role in the film, meant to juxtapose her role as a mother with her daughter’s. The film heavily implies that she is both an alcoholic and addicting to pharmaceuticals, even appearing to be under the influence while her grandson Manny is present.

Jackie is clearly shown to have issues with her mother, but the film takes its time in telling the audience exactly what they are. Once it is revealed that Jackie’s mother had ignored several instances of sexual assault against her daughter as a child, preferring to believe that nothing happened at all, it is hard to stand behind her character in any way. Even so, it appears that there might be hope for the future of Angel and Jackie’s relationship after the film came to a close.

5 Lady Killer

Real-life mixed martial artist Valentina Shevchenko lends her experience in the fighting world to this film. She portrays the character known by her stage name of Lady Killer, whom Jackie Justice is scheduled to compete against in the third act of the film. Her inclusion does lend some credit to Bruised, with some real MMA fighting occurring in the match.

Lady Killer is Jackie Justice’s primary opponent in the film, whom she trains desperately to defeat in the ring. The character herself, however, is not introduced until just a few minutes before the fight itself, giving the audience little to root against once the fight actually takes place. The fighter does prove herself to be as brutal as promised, yet shows a hint of her true personality when she allows Jackie to bask in the glory of the crowd’s chants even after she lost the match.

4 Jackie Justice

Jackie Justice, played by Academy Award-winner Halle Berry, who also directed this feature, is a retired MMA fighter who gets back in the game after an unexpected reunion with the son whom she gave up for adoption six years prior to the film’s events. She is introduced to the audience as a washed-out has-been and must put in the work and the hours in order to regain the athleticism and skill that she had once enjoyed.

Though this is far from the best film in Halle Berry’s career, her character Jackie undergoes some well-needed character development over the course of the movie. One of the first things that the audience witness the protagonist do is strike a child in a fit of rage, not portraying herself in a positive light from the start. Nevertheless, Jackie learns to quell her rage to a certain extent throughout the movie, eventually learning to put her son before herself in an attempt to fix her past mistakes.

3 Manny

Manny, played by Danny Boyd Jr., is Jackie’s 6-year-old son that returns to her unexpectedly just before she is about to begin training to return to the world of fighting. After a traumatic experience, Manny remains silent for the majority of the film, and only really finds solace in playing the piano and the meditative techniques that Bobbi teaches him.

Much of the film’s heart revolves around Manny’s relationship with his mother, as they both try to navigate this new world that they’ve been thrust into. Unlike many of the other characters around him, Manny seems to have a glimmer of hope in his eyes, but it is fading quickly. It is that hope that his mother fights to retain.

2 Pops

Stephen McKinley Henderson plays the criminally underused character of Pops, one of the trainers that helps get Jackie Justice back into shape for her big match against the Lady Killer. Viewers may recognize the actor from his role as Father Leviatch in Lady Bird and, more recently, as the head of security Thufir Hawat in Dune.

The actor makes up for his lack of screen time with his warm demeanor and a much-needed sense of humor in a film that otherwise takes itself incredibly seriously. He delivers some of the best lines in the film, including “Betty White’s no slouch,” after Sheila Atim’s character compares Jackie to the iconic actress while watching her practice. He is overall a joy to have on-screen, especially when surrounded by his rather bleak costars.

1 Bobbi Buddhakan Berroa

Sheila Atim, known for her work in Amazon Prime’s miniseries The Underground Railroad and the 2018 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, plays the alliteratively named Bobbi Buddhakan Berroa. Bobbi becomes Jackie’s head trainer after she accepts Immaculate’s offer to get back in the ring, doing her best to get the protagonist in fighting condition before the title match against the Lady Killer.

Bobbi is one of the few characters in the film with more positive attributes than negative. Though she is a tough trainer that doesn’t accept excuses, she also reveals herself to be quite caring, even offering to look after Manny for a bit while Jackie trains, doing her best to bond with the child while they spend time together. She proves to be Jackie’s anchor in her difficult times and is always there to lend a helping hand where it is needed.

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