Halle Berry’s Directorial Debut “Bruised” Will Feature a Queer Romance!

Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry shared some interesting details about her directorial debut Bruised in her latest interview with Entertainment Weekly. The upcoming sports drama will feature a queer romance.

As a fan of Halle Berry, I have been waiting to watch Bruised ever since it was announced back in 2018. Netflix acquired the rights to the indie project back in September 2020. The streaming giant will release Bruised come November 24, 2021. There’s already award buzz around the film. I have my fingers crossed Berry’s directorial debut gets her back in award conversations. She deserves it.

Coming to Berry’s interview with EW, the script for Bruised originally starred “a twentysomething Irish Catholic white woman” with Blake Lively being in talks to play the lead. After Lively decided to not go forward with it, Berry, who had also read the script, made up her mind to rework it. As far as Berry’s concerned, she wanted to make a movie showcasing the importance of last chances. You can get a lot of chances when you’re young. But things change when you grow older.

The lead of Bruised, Jackie Justice (Berry), is “someone fighting for a last chance rather than another chance.” The plot has Jackie, a disgraced mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, facing one of the rising stars of the MMA while dealing with the return of her 6-year-old son.

The cast also includes Adan Canto (Designated Survivor) as Jackie’s abusive manager/boyfriend and British stage actress Sheila Atim as Bobbi “Buddhakan” Berroa who reluctantly trains Jackie and… drumroll… becomes Jackie’s love interest.

I was not expecting Bruised to be a queer movie, but I’m definitely here for it. Berry’s been a longtime vocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and I can’t wait to see how she handles the romance between Jackie and Bobbi.

Berry does seem aware of how intimacy between two women needs to be handled carefully onscreen. Serving as the director, Berry found a new sense of power as a creative and ensured Atim was involved in the process. Berry realized it was essential to have her love scenes with Atim not only be “beautiful, but something that felt realistic and not salacious.”

Berry said, “Sheila was as in charge of it as I was, and that’s how I like it, because we’re exposing part of ourselves. It’s an intimacy.”

I’m looking forward to her work!

Berry also had a good take on streaming content and why she went with Netflix, stating, “With the pandemic I think we pushed ourselves probably 15 years ahead, because people want to watch things at home on their own time. They want to stop it and start it. So I think we have to start reimagining and rethinking how we’re evolving. People have said to me, ‘You made an independent movie. Why would you sell it to Netflix?’ Because I’m assured people will see it, and that’s the goal! That is ultimately the goal.”

With Bruised getting closer to the November release date, Berry’s sci-fi/action movie Moonfall (directed and co-written by Ronald Emmerich) will be released on February 4, 2022. Berry’s also been busy filming the sci-fi/mystery film The Mothership for Netflix. Once that particular project wraps up, Berry did share with EW that “she wouldn’t say no to a second crack at television.”

She starred in the two-season-long sci-fi TV series Extant over one CBS from 2014 to 2015. You can read my Extant coverage here.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Berry on the small screen again. With her recently taking up a couple of sci-fi projects, I would like to watch her tackle comedy or horror. I also wouldn’t be against her only directing a project and staying behind the scenes while providing a platform to other deserving talent to shine.

Are you excited about Bruised?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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