Queen of the Ring

Director: Ash Avildsen
Starring: Emily Bett Rickards, Josh Lucas, Tyler Posey, Walton Goggins, Francesca Eastwood, Marie Avgeropoulos, Deborah Ann Woll, Cara Buono, Kailey Farmer, Gavin Casalegno, Adam Demos, Kelli Berglund, Damaris Lewis, Martin Kove, James E. Cornette, Toni Rossall, Trinity Fatu, Mickie James Britt Baker
Running Time: 140 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

On one hand a very traditional biopic, Queen of the Ring offers something different by telling a story many remain unfamiliar with, wrestling fan or not. Avoiding comparisons to The Iron Claw, it also comes unencumbered with the impending sense of dread and doom unique to that tragedy. With more viewers aware of the Von Erichs, the film had to overcome an avalanche of expectations, as photos, footage, documentaries and first hand accounts all helped fuel wild speculation about what we'd see. So while this isn't nearly as anticipated, writer/director Ash Avildsen reaps the benefits of flying under the radar to explore an unexamined corner of pro wrestling history.  

Told in a straightforward, no-frills style, it's a classic underdog tale that features a dynamic lead performance, some nicely fleshed out mini-arcs for the supporting players and impressive era specific production design. At nearly two and a half hours, it's also lengthy, with the action hitting a slight lull in the middle before regaining momentum the rest of the way through. But the big surprise is the dark places it goes toward the end, laying the groundwork for a myriad of problems that would plague the wrestling industry for decades to come. 

It's the 1930's and Mildred Burke (Emily Bett Rickards) is a single teen mom working at her mother's (Cara Buono) Kansas diner when she discovers and falls in love with wrestling after watching matches at the local arena. After pestering grappler Billy Wolfe (Josh Lucas) to train her, he relents, assuming she won't amount to much, at least until seeing her extraordinary potential between the ropes. Strong, athletic and eager to learn, Mildred works carnival matches, eventually marrying Billy as the two attempt to get bans lifted on women's wrestling across various territories in the U.S. 

Mildred's big break eventually comes from forward looking Mid-Atlantic impresario Jack Pfefer (Walton Goggins). A forefather of "sports entertainment," the eccentric promoter envisions a new theatrical era on the horizon, with her as its centerpiece. But Billy sees his meal ticket, soon building a stable of women's wrestlers as he cheats on and physically abuses Mildred, much to his son G. Bill's (Tyler Posey) quiet disgust. Yearning to break from Billy and show naysayers what she's truly capable of, her journey culminates in a pivotal but controversial world title clash with longtime nemesis June Byers (Kailey Farmer).

Partially inspired by Jeff Leen's 2010 book, this covers a relatively underrepresented time in wrestling that spans from the 30's to the mid 50's during which the sport was in a transitional stage, straddling the line between "work" and "shoot," with even wrestlers occasionally confused as to how much will be scripted. While promoters choose winners based largely on each wrestler's ability to draw money, they can't publicly acknowledge it's predetermined, even as discreet arguments about match outcomes continue behind closed doors in smoke filled arenas.

Enter Mildred Burke, who knows she physically has what it takes to be the best, along with the dedication and contagious optimism to make it happen. But with women's wrestling banned and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) maintaining its stranglehold on the business, aging heel wrestler Billy Wolfe sees universal appeal and dollar signs in helping her break through. And Rickards is perfect as the plucky heroin who may be naive to the industry's inner workings at first, but picks things up fast, refusing to settle for being Billy's cash cow. 

Like most of the cast, Rickards benefits from the anonymity of playing characters most modern audiences are unaware of, either in appearance or personality. This enables the actress to build an amiable, girl-next-door persona from the ground up, carving her own niche as Mildred while also looking credible in the ring. And it's not just the wrestling scenes that look good, but the rest of the film, which captures the period with distinctive wardrobe and sets that belie its lower budget.

Lucas gruffly portrays Wolfe as this amalgamation of various sleazebag promoters and ex-wrestlers, initially making a fairly likable impression before revealing his true colors. A textbook abuser, he turns on the charm and manipulation when needed, not just with Mildred but whomever he envisions as the next headliner, both in the ring and his bed.

More a business partnership than marriage, Mildred keeps Billy close enough to protect her earnings, but not so close as to continuously suffer his abuse. But that doesn't work, especially during a time when even the scuzziest promoters are protected and hold all the cards. The more sides she sees of her husband, the worse he gets, as Lucas dives into his character's two-faced persona with gusto, revealing himself as more crooked outside the squared circle than in it. 

There are appearances from a few current wrestlers like Toni Storm as Clara Mortensen, but it's Kailey Farmer (AKA Kamille from AEW) as the imposing June Byers whose presence and badass demeanor looms largest. We also get a cameo from legendary manager Jim Cornette as the NWA commissioner refusing to give the women a shot. And while him sharing the screen with The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai's Martin Kove (as promoter Al Haft) definitely wasn't on anyone's 2025 movie bingo card, it's still great to see.  

More than a few supporting performances stand out, such as Francesca Eastwood's turn as feisty grappler Mae Young, bringing needed dimension to a woman still only known to many as the octogenarian who gave birth to a hand on WWE TV. Adam Demos also impresses as George, a struggling wrestler on the cusp of discovering his new "gorgeous" and famously flamboyant persona while Tyler Posey conveys conflicted feelings as Billy's son, working around his dad to help Mildred. 

Mildred's thrillingly contested 1954 championship match with Byers may blur the lines of entertainment and reality, but her real opponent is Billy and the other promoters who followed in his footsteps. With them ensuring that her designation as the "first million-dollar female athlete" is mostly forgotten, it'll take until the mid 2010's for women's wrestling to get its proper due, only recently rivaling the men in popularity. Vince McMahon Jr. isn't portrayed in the film, but briefly mentioned in a clever context by his father, Vince Sr. That seems fitting considering how this film's greedy promoter previews what the younger McMahon later does, only on a much larger scale.  

Entertaining and smartly written, Queen of the Ring is the type of project that could have packed theaters in an earlier moviegoing era, if not for wrestling's public perception at the time. But if an aspirational sports biopic made by the son of the director of Rocky and The Karate Kid now feels more karmically appropriate, harsher truths about those calling the shots still seep through. This is really about the ultimate babyface clearing a path by showing how "lady wrestlers" could draw big crowds. Doing that may have been hard, but proving it to these old school promoters was even harder.                                                          

Fallout (Season 1)

Creators: Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson Dworet
Starring: Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, Moisés Arias, Xelia Mendes-Jones, Walton Goggins, Sarita Choudhury, Leslie Uggams, Johnny Pemberton, Zach Cherry, Annabel O'Hagan, Dave Register, Teagan Meredith, Frances Turner, Michael Cristofer, Mykelti Williamson, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Michael Emerson, Michael Rapaport, Dale Dickey, Jon Daly, Chris Parnell, Fred Armisen, Erik Estrada
Original Airdate: 2024

★★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

Destroying any and all preconceived notions about the viability of popular video game adaptations, Prime Video's Fallout presents a quirky, one-of-a-kind post-apocalyptic universe that's accessible to fans and non-fans alike. Its eight episodes hit all the right notes, telling a simple but surprisingly complex, action packed story that takes itself just seriously enough. At first, you'll worry we've entered one of those "mystery boxes" intended to string viewers along without revealing anything of consequence. But it instead delivers more answers than we know what to do with, generating enough creative juice to spill into future seasons. 

Envisioned by Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Roy, the biggest thrill is seeing how all the pieces fit to form a fuller picture by its end. Players of the game are probably well versed in the broader details, but those going in cold are in for a trip, with no foreknowledge required to appreciate all that must have gone into translating this to the small screen. And in recalling the better elements of genre staples like Mad Max, Star Wars and Lost, it also manages to sidestep the frustrating narrative baggage that's occasionally accompanied them. 

Filled with dark, satiric humor, spectacular visual effects and a trio of award-worthy performances, what most stands out is its timeliness, or in an even larger context, its timelessness. Considering the game itself came out in the late nineties, this interpretation arrives at just the right moment, mixing themes of nuclear war, political strife, socioeconomic collapse, capitalism and governmental control into an entertainingly subversive package that aims much higher than anticipated.

In the Great War of 2077, a nuclear blast decimated Earth, leaving a retrofuturistic society with scarce resources. Survivors took refuge in fallout shelters or Vaults, designed by a technology company called Vault-Tec. It's 200 years later when Vault 33's cheery, optimistic Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) volunteers to marry a neighboring 32 Dweller, but when a violent raid occurs, her father and Vault overseer Hank (Kyle MacLachlan) is abducted by the mysterious Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury).

With help from her brother Norm (Moisés Arias), Lucy ventures outside the vault into a devastated Los Angeles Wasteland to locate Hank. While searching, she'll encounter newly promoted Brotherhood of Steel squire Maximus (Aaron Moten), who's on a mission of his own. She'll also cross paths with The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a gunslinging bounty hunter once known as famous movie actor Cooper Howard. Caught in the crosshairs is escaped Enclave scientist Dr. Siggi Wilzig (Michael Emerson), who holds the key to a valuable energy source and might be Lucy's most important bargaining chip.

Focusing primarily on three main characters, the series really revolves around Vault-Tec's history and how it informs their present situation. After a brief, but unforgettable flashback showing actor Cooper Howard and his daughter Janey on the day of 2077's nuclear attack, we're taken out of a 50's looking milieu that's technology stalled post-World II and thrust into the confines of Vault 33 in 2296.  Eventually, we'll not only discover how this whole project came to be, but its entire purpose for the survivors inhabiting it.

Everyday life down below and in the adjacent Vaults of 31 and 32 appear almost utopian at first, which is exactly what the designated overseers intended. And it isn't as if the citizens have much choice since their only alternative is the dog eat dog landscape of the Wasteland, complete with its deadly radiation levels and random carnage. 

The Vaults may reflect the illusion of community, but it's also a tightly controlled, antiseptic environment that leaves little room for independence. While easily identifiable as a cult, for characters who've known nothing else their entire lives and are deprived the freedom to think or feel for themselves, it's simply business as usual. 

Being the daughter of Vault 33's overseer, the innocent, impressionable Lucy is all in with Vault-Tec's philosophy until a catastrophic breach threatens to reveal organizational secrets her brother Norm is hell-bent on uncovering, whatever the consequences. The attack on the Vault itself is one of the series' defining moments, as a soundtrack of oldies play over a brilliantly choreographed ballet of gruesome violence, with the residents' idyllic existence juxtaposed against blood soaked brutality. 

When a traumatized Lucy escapes the Vault to find Hank, she's warned how life outside that bubble will challenge her loyal optimism. These are the sacrifices some must make to adapt and survive, in certain cases morally transforming into something they'd never imagine. No one knows this better than Cooper Howard, the once popular Hollywood actor now roaming the L.A. Wasteland as a disfigured bounty hunter who eerily resembles Captain America nemesis Red Skull. 

Cooper's motivations are the most intriguing since his centuries-spanning biography plays as a supervillain origin story, with Goggins bridging the gap between charismatic celebrity and family man we see in flashbacks and the mutated monster he'll later become. But once we're given glimpses into the Cooper's role as Vault-Tec pitchman and wife Barb's (Frances Turner) pull as a high ranking executive within the company, his downfall becomes clearer. 

Lucy finds the ideal ally in Maximus, a bullied squire from the Brotherhood of Steel, who steps into the position vacated by his injured best friend Dane (Xelia Mendes-Jones). But when a controversial decision lands him in the power armor of the knight he's assisting, he and Lucy realize their shared goal is best accomplished together. But not until facing down some serious obstacles like The Ghoul, who's after exactly what they are. An awe-inspiring western style shootout in the second episode establishes just how dangerous he is, as Lucy finds herself on the receiving end of his wrath for reasons that aren't entirely coincidental.

Trust ceases to exist in the Wasteland so the toughest battle for Lucy is coming to grips with this and accepting her life wasn't as rosy as she'd assumed. With intersecting storylines balancing simultaneously, all roads lead to the finale, which fills in a lot blanks, clarifying the events that brought these characters to this point. 

After proving just how engaging she can be as popular soccer team captain turned plane crash survivor in Showtime's Yellowjackets, Ella Purnell's superstar card is now punched with her affecting turn as Lucy. While the expressive, saucer eyed actress excels in the action scenes, what stands out is how well she conveys her character's evolution, slowly waking to the realization everything she assumed about the world was a lie. Through it all, her upbeat "okey dokey" attitude and inherent belief in good rarely crumbles, remaining determined to push forward without being infected with the bitterness that's consumed others. 

Purnell and Moten share believable chemistry as a tandem, with the self-loathing Maximus suffering a similar crisis of conscious, wrestling with who he is and pretends to be, but still baring the emotional scars of a tragic childhood event. It's hard not to compare his arc under the knight's armor to what Disney's Star Wars sequels failed in doing with Finn's storm trooper, instead pushing that character to the sidelines. Front and center throughout, Maximus is anything but an afterthought here, with Moten carrying a large share of the plot.

Journeyman character actor Walton Goggins steals every scene as Cooper Howard/The Ghoul, disappearing into each while still somehow convincing us they're one in the same under all those layers of makeup. His flashbacks are a highlight of the series, invoking Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as the Rick Dalton-esque Cooper wrestles with his marriage and public endorsement of a very controversial program.

Goggins is also downright brilliant as the gunslinging Ghoul, ruthlessly letting everyone know just how easily they could have wound up in his shoes. Only by the end is it confirmed what and whom he's really after, hinting that he may still have a small shred of humanity left. And however brief, it's great to see Lost's Michael Emerson again, as the former Benjamin Linus brings his unmistakable eccentricity to a role that doesn't veer all that far from what his fans would eagerly expect.

The finale gives a lot up while still laying plenty of road for this story to continue as long as its creators want it to. Whether or not the momentum can be maintained is another matter, but based on what comes to light in the closing minutes, there's a lot left to explore. With certain characters revealing their true colors, uneasy alliances being forged and some questions still left about what we've seen, it's anyone's guess where it could lead. 

Fallout picks up steam with each new development, pulling its characters in different directions before delivering a twisty, cliffhanger finale that sets the stage for subsequent chapters. We're not getting more because we need answers, but to see where the story goes next. It's addictive sci-fi TV done right, overcoming limitations even the best in this genre face when attempting to deliver an adventure of this size and scope.