'Bruised' Ending Explained: Halle Berry's Jackie Justice is still a winner with heart
The ending of Halle Berry's 'Bruised' is pretty straightforward. There are no twists and turns or open endings that make the sports drama a complex affair. The movie sees Berry play Jackie Justice, a disgraced MMA fighter who's spent her time in the wilderness and unexpected challenges pop up in the way. One of them is her six-year-old son, Manny (Danny Boyd Jr) who shows up at her doorstep and Jackie's life changes. With an assured ten grand for a show vs Lady Killer sees a ray of hope in the slugger's life, but the journey proves to be arduous.
Training under her instructor Buddhakan, Jackie preps for the fight, but the instructions are quite clear. Killer is a far more athletic and stronger opponent, meaning Jackie's only chance comes in the form of grappling and pinning her opponent to the ground. Over the course of the film, Budhakan falls for Jackie who refuses any commitment as her priority is to see Manny get a better life. The event finally sees Jackie and Killer square off and after some intense action, the duo manages to push past five rounds and eventually Killer retains the title in the Netflix flick.
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'Bruised' Ending Explained: Berry's Jackie is a fighter
The final minutes of the movie see a bruised Buddhakan visiting Jackie to congratulate her on the fight. She's intentionally harmed herself to prove to her ward that she didn’t need anyone to win the fight. All the emotions were a battle within and Jackie had to vault over them to stand a chance in the ring. Soon after the fight, she heads to her mother's house to pick Manny up and confesses to him that she intends to be a more capable mother, and the two head for an uncertain future when the kid finally utters his first words as a sign of forgiving Jackie.
In the end, that's all it is. Halle Berry's character was someone who never gave up and fought the odds. The sexual abuse when she was a child, the strained relationship with her mother, the challenges of setting her life right and mend her bond with Manny, and training proved that she was already a fighter and had a lot of heart.
The loss is much akin to that of Creed's loss to Pretty Ricky Conlan, which still made him a people's champion for putting his all in the ring. Jackie was considered a winner although she lost the fight despite a spirited performance. While the film has its own flaws, the ending shows that Berry wanted to send a message to the world that people, no matter the adversity, always had a choice — to rise, or resign to their fate.