Swing Bout (2024) Movie Review: A Pressure Cooker drama that Feels a Bit Too Familiar For its Own Good

Written and directed by Maurice O’Carroll, “Swing Bout” is a chamber drama set in the world of boxing. It begins with a brief introduction to all its characters through a stroll behind the scenes, meant to offer an idea of their interpersonal dynamic. Simultaneously, it leads us to believe that they are part of an intense professional environment filled with cutthroat competition and corruption. About ten or fifteen minutes into it, you wonder: What is so special about a boxing championship happening somewhere in Ireland? That leads you to its strengths as well as its limitations. Let’s talk about the strengths first.

The way these people blow things out of proportion makes you realize how important this world is to them. For some, it’s about the sport, while for others, it’s just about the business. The script introduces their conflicts through a clash of ambitions, egos, and prospects. Even though it’s about a pair of overzealous boxers, the script does not speak extensively about the sport itself. Instead, it churns out most of its drama through the psychological tension between its characters and how they fit into their close-knit ecosystem. It happens mostly in small, confined spaces, which conveys the stress they feel.

While revealing more about its character, the film leads up to the big fight called Swing Bout, which, by definition, is a last-minute match between boxers meant to fill the gaps in the schedule. So, it is bound to come with its share of last-minute jitters. However, the boxers hide that anxiety under their anger and resentment. In this case, the boxers are two young women: Tony (Ciara Berkeley) and Vicki (Chrissie Cronin). They express their passion for the sport every chance they get. However, the script reveals that they were likely pushed into devoting their whole lives to it. The actors present that internal conflict even while their characters try to one-up each other.

Swing Bout (2024) — A still from “Swing Bout” (2024)

Connected to Tony and Vicki’s world are a few others within this taut ecosystem, which includes their mentors and the men in charge of this boxing tournament. Most of them are in it for money, whether quick or steady. It doesn’t matter to them whether they earn it through merit or extortion. They hope to meet their goals, even at the cost of someone else’s ambitions. It goes against the values of young fighters, who look at the sport as a way to prove themselves. So, it’s not just a match for them but a stepping stone and a chance to prove their worth.

While they might be forced into being a part of this world, they are invested in it as if their life depends on it. The script conveys their hunger and determination mainly through their conversations. They find ways to put down each other as if their self-worth depends on winning that verbal battle. Since we don’t get to see their boxing match, we get a sense of the stakes solely through their arguments. That is where its heated drama becomes its strength. Amid the chaos, Tony and Vicky’s passion gives you a visceral understanding of how much the victory means to them.

Still, “Swing Bout” fails to convince us that this fight is worth caring about in the grand scheme of things. It puts its characters in a pressure cooker-like situation that “Boiling Point” or “The Bear” does with their professional kitchen setting. However, it falls short of convincing us that their world is of a bigger significance. The characters feel too familiar and less distinct. They hardly stand apart from the characters we have seen in similar dramas. They reveal just the kind of pathos we would expect from such situations, and the drama loses its edge through the same sense of predictability.

While collectively underwhelming, what still works in “Swing Bout” is the execution of its heightened scenes. They are largely impactful because they appear at times when the characters have reached their culmination point in some shape or form. Maurice O’Carroll brings a raw intensity to these scenes through his direction, with some clever creative choices that seamlessly tie in seemingly implausible narrative cues. Similar elements of juxtaposition enhance “Swing Bout” as a seething drama that reveals the loss of innocence.

The performances of younger cast members stand out far more since their characters seem constantly in an internal duel. Their fears come at odds with how they hope to present themselves, rather, how they have been taught to present themselves. Overall, the backstage events just before their ‘big fight’ lead them into a hole of existential dread, which becomes a prominent driving factor in this drama. Yet, although potent, it is undercooked.