Rating: 5 / 5 stars

“I, Tonya” was phenomenal from start to finish. However, it contains content that is very sensitive and should be viewed with caution. The film is an interpretation of the true rivalry between Olympic skaters Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie, “Goodbye Christopher Robin”) and Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver, “Dear White People”). The film focuses on the events that led to that fateful day where Kerrigan’s knee was hit with a baton, raising questions if Harding personally had anything to do with it.

Throughout the film, it shows how the aggressive and competitive nature of Harding’s mother, LaVona Golden (Allison Janney, “Mom”), and the romantic turned violently abusive relationship with Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan, “I’m Not Here”), led to Harding not being in control of her own life and being coerced into participating in the planning of the attack.

While the film has elements of a comedy or drama, it is filmed stylistically as a documentary. The film primarily takes place in the past, during the time leading up to the attack. As certain events took place, it cut to “modern-day” Harding, Golden, Gillooly and Shawn Eckhart (Paul Walter Hauser, “Kiss Me When I’m Down”), Jeff’s best friend being interviewed by the press. By using this, the film was able to portray each character’s perspective of the events, as opposed to just showing what happened impartially.

When it showed a particularly gruesome abuse scene, it cut to either Gillooly or Golden, where they defend or deny what they did.  Ironically enough, upon watching the film herself, Golden was displeased at Janney’s portrayal of her character, claiming that she had never abused Tonya. However, after watching the film, Harding told Janney that she had portrayed her mother perfectly.

Screenwriter Steven Rogers (“Love the Coopers”) knew that this movie was able to tell a side of a story that rarely gets told. Most people know Harding as the jerk who cheated, but by making this film, the audience learns what environment Harding grew up in and is able to make a decision for themselves if she was a “good guy” or a “bad guy.” Since he knew how influential this movie had the possibility of being, he spent a lot of time with Harding and Gillooly to make sure he had her side of the story correctly.

The cinematography in this film was difficult to do properly because of the close-up ice skating shots. Director Craig Gillespie (“The Finest Hours”) had a camera woman follow Harding around as she skated to create a more realistic and immersive experience. Typically, when watching a film, viewers are looking for the stunt double’s face as they do the more complex moves. However, most of the skating was done by Margot Robbie herself, which took several months of practicing.

What made the film most interesting was that, by the end of the film, there was no clear answer to the previously asked question of “Did she do it?” The entire film is from Harding’s perspective, and both she and the writer want the truth to be supported by fact. Harding, in the film, says, “There’s no such thing as truth. Everyone has their own truth.”

The film had so much love and care when it was crafted, and it showed. This film is a must-see, and viewers will leave the theater wanting to reverse time and tell everyone to listen to Harding.

Photo provided by NEON via YouTube.com