I, Tonya, released in 2017 by Craig Gillespie and Steven Rogers, follows the life of Tonya Harding, an American figure skater who is notorious for the assault on Nancy Kerrigan, a former American figure skater. Starring hot names in Hollywood like Margot Robbie, playing Tonya, and Sebastian Stan, playing Jeff Gillooly, Tonya’s ex-husband, this movie was set with stars. 

The film follows Tonya and her mother, LaVona from the earliest stages in Tonya’s life. Growing up poor, they struggled to pay for skating lessons which caused lots of animosity between the family. LaVona was very abusive throughout Tonya’s entire childhood—causing her father to leave when Tonya was very young. This meant that it was just Tonya and her abusive mother under one roof. After meeting her boyfriend, soon-to-be ex-husband, Tonya spiraled down a path of obsession and violence due to her mother’s conditioning of unwell habits.

The mockumentary shows Tonya throughout different stages of her career, the extreme highs and the extreme lows of it all. In the highest of highs, Tonya became the first ever American woman to land two triple axel jumps in competition. The fake interviews in the movie by numerous actors portraying real people go into depth about how this was a huge accomplishment for Harding and her future. However, the movie shows Tonya’s unpresentable attitude and bad mindset when it comes to skating—judges don’t like this and it reflects in her scores.

After receiving death threats before the 1993 Northwest Pacific Regional Championships, Tonya decided not to compete and therefore sabotaged competitor and best friend, Nancy Kerrigan. She hired a henchman to thrash Nancy’s legs, making her ineligible to compete. This put Tonya and her family in the hot seat, making national news and being convicted of the assault of Nancy Kerrigan. After this, the movie follows the trial and aftermath of the assault.

I love this movie. The mockumentary-style sports biography left me heartbroken for Tonya. Margot Robbie depicted Tonya perfectly and told her story with real emotion. Throughout the movie, I was on the edge of my seat and couldn’t wait for what would happen next. The scenes with Tonya and her mother showed a realistic, toxic, mother-daughter relationship that many viewers could relate to. Although it was a mockumentary, the film showed Tonya and her life in depth, as opposed to painting her out to be the villain since the Nancy Kerrigan incident. I think about this movie a lot and would consider it to be one of my favorites. 

I give this movie a 10/10.