We may get only one chance at a first impression, but there is rarely a bad opportunity to seek redemption, even if it can be a daunting process. Jack Huston seems to be enthralled by the idea of following someone as they set out to right the wrongs of their past, as it forms the foundation for Day of the Fight, his directorial debut in which he tells the story of “Irish” Mikey Flanigan, a former championship boxer who has recently been released after a stint in prison for a crime that is not clarified, but was clearly enough to have his entire social circle and family turn their back on him, leading him to struggle to assimilate back into society. It doesn’t take long for Mikey to don the gloves once again, and in the hours leading up to his first fight in years, he navigates the austere streets of his working-class neighbourhood, trying to make some money as well as attempting to rekindle the relationships he had with many of his closest confidantes, which include the mother of his daughter and his father, who no longer seems to recognize his son. Over a day, he does his best to get into the good graces of the society he had previously rebelled against, realizing that it is far more difficult to ask for forgiveness than it is to make the mistakes in the first place. Huston inherits a keen eye for direction from his notable family, which includes some of the most influential artists of the 20th century, and his debut proves to be an extraordinary demonstration of his talents behind the camera, depicting his fascination with certain subjects as well as his ability to weave together both visual and narrative threads in such a way that they become engaging, leading to a film that is poignant and genuinely moving, while also making some stark statements on the nature of society and how it treats those who exist on the margins, whether by their own choice or merely by circumstance. Elegant but impactful in a way that makes it clear that Huston is a genuine talent, Day of the Fight is a tremendous film, both for its thematic content and its execution, both of which are precise and compelling enough to capture our attention and maintain it until the haunting final moments.

Day of the Fight has quite a few strong ideas relating to the plight of the protagonist and his attempts to navigate life outside of prison, which is a daunting process that is not represented all that commonly in a lot of contemporary media, particularly since the culture has gravitated towards a more close-minded perspective in which anyone who has spent time in prison is immediately disqualified from many facets of everyday society, even if they have been completely rehabilitated. This film is focused on how difficult it can be for those who have paid their dues to find a way out of the shadows, something that has become a social issue amongst many former prisoners who genuinely want to get a second chance, but find that they are followed by their past in such a way that it makes it nearly impossible to forge any kind of meaningful relationship or be seen as more than your previous actions, which follow these people until they either entirely reinvent themselves so that their past is not known to those around them, or simply just die with the burden of their own decisions weighing them down. Huston uses Day of the Fight as his fervent manifesto in favour of the act of seeking redemption, and how it is not merely a case of simply apologizing and hoping that all can be forgiven, but rather plumbing the depths of the past and atoning for every moral misdemeanour and wrongdoing, and hoping that some kind of understanding can occur, especially when one has put in so much effort to change their ways. This film is a fascinating depiction of an ordinary man searching his soul for both the courage to apologize by saying what he has kept silent for years, as well as the effort to change the course of his life, and the director carefully pieces all of these bold but resonant themes together to create quite a powerful character study that centres around the protagonist’s efforts to make it clear that he has changed his ways, all the while asking whether someone can learn and grow to the point where they can leave the past behind. The film doesn’t provide any clear solution, and it keeps these aspects relatively vague, since it doesn’t intend to make any grand statements, and instead focuses on being more complex than simply following the same predictable narrative beats we’d expect from such a story.

When selecting the cast for this film, the director proves to be quite loyal, based on the fact that Day of the Fight features a reunion with some of his co-stars from Boardwalk Empire, the project in which most of us first took notice of Huston and which made him a more prominent name in the industry. Michael Pitt is the focus, playing the part of the conflicted protagonist, a man desperate to take hold of his narrative after being released from prison, but who finds that this is generally easier said than done. Pitt is a fascinating actor since his boyish good looks and clear charm often conflict with his tendency to play rougher, more gritty characters, which makes his performance as Mikey in this film all the more compelling – he commits wholeheartedly to the role, and brings such extraordinary dedication to what is essential quite an ambiguous character, and effectively anchors the entire film through the strength of his performance, which is the primary merit. He’s joined by quite an impressive supporting cast – Steve Buscemi reunites with the director in the part of the protagonist’s soft-hearted, empathetic uncle who seems to be the only person who shows Mikey any real compassion, and Ron Perlman is his coach who pushes him to get back in the ring, solely to get the dispirited young man back on his feet and into his prime yet again. The film also features a small performance by Joe Pesci, who only acts sporadically, choosing projects with which he finds some kind of value and resonance. As the protagonist’s father, he is heartbreaking – suffering from some kind of condition that renders him speechless, he has to sit passively as his son attempts to break through to him, his eyes saying everything that his stolen words could not, leading to perhaps the most harrowing but beautiful moment in the entire film. An ensemble effort in which absolutely everyone is incredible, even when the majority of the supporting cast only has one or two scenes, Day of the Fight is a very impressive effort, made stronger and richer by the actors who are dedicated to such a complex but moving premise.

Narratively, there are many fascinating components to Day of the Fight, but what truly makes the difference is the execution of these ideas. Gritty dramas set in the world of boxing and layered with social realism are very common, and we’ve seen just as many masterpieces as we have misfires, meaning that the impact is very rarely the subject matter itself, but rather what the director does with them which makes the most significant difference. Huston once again demonstrates his fondness for a bygone era in film history by crafting this film as a throwback to the gravelly social realist dramas of the 1970s (perhaps even evoking his grandfather’s exceptional Fat City in terms of tone and style), filming the entire story in stunning black-and-white, which is more than just a hasty decision done to give the film a sense of artistic credibility, but rather forces us to focus on the story, which is extremely bleak and austere, but gradually becomes more hopeful once we find ourselves on the other side of the narrative. Structurally, the film is quite interesting as well – the entire story takes place on a single day, and begins and ends in the same position, giving the film a sense of circularity, something that has been attempted on many occasions but is rarely done correctly. Limiting the timeframe has both artistic and narrative merit – it prevents the story from needing to be too sprawling since there is only so much that can be achieved in a single day, and it also offers it the opportunity to focus on the small, intricate details – everything is pieced together so beautifully, with an attention on the moments that would otherwise be overlooked in a more hurried production. This allows Huston to develop the emotions more authentically, looking at every interaction with complete sincerity, and as a result prevents the film from spiralling into a more overwrought bundle of moments, with much more dedication being on the intricately-crafted emotions that resound as entirely genuine, rather than simply trying to stir a reaction or play on our sympathies, neither of which are as artistically resonant as they may appear. It’s a bare-boned, often quite brutal character study with real emotions, which is the ideal path for such a film to take, and one of the many reasons it is likely to be seen as one of the great entries into this specific genre in coming years.

Day of the Fight is the kind of film that is discovered more than it announces itself, and its subtle, unfurnished aesthetic makes it a decidedly more quiet affair, especially since it is not aiming to be the definitive word on the sport (which is relatively unimportant as far as the plot is concerned – but the one fight sequence is operatic in structure and shows that Huston has a remarkable command of his craft, even when it comes to choreographing something that is notoriously quite challenging to convey on film), but rather uses it as the foundation for a quietly devastating character study about a man seeking redemption, and discovering the path to forgiveness is far from as easy as it seems at the outset. Far more observational than it is persuasive, the film takes a more quiet approach to exploring the human condition, examining its various intricacies without claiming to have any answers to the perpetual questions that we find dictating this film and making it such a poignant affair. Huston has a knack for direction, and he crafts a film that would be the pride of his forefathers, who helped establish the very system he has chosen to pursue, showing as much talent behind the camera as he does in front of it, is not always an easy task when you have such immense expectations layered against you. Powerful and invigorating, while also being genuinely moving in how it structures itself as something far more poetic than it seems to be on the surface, Day of the Fight is one of the year’s best surprises, and a film with an abundance of compassion and heart, which it never neglects even when it is at its most bleak. Hauntingly beautiful and striking in both form and content, Huston has crafted an exceptional film, and one that will be appreciated as time goes on and we realize just how daring he was in tackling such intimidating, harrowing themes that will resonate with anyone who has ever sought redemption in some form.