Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars

It is notable that Margot Robbie has recently found herself in films that are critical failures. “The Legend of Tarzan” simply came and went, while “Suicide Squad” was hated across the board, even by some fans of DC Films: although Robbie’s portrayal in the latter film has been called a highlight. It seems that with “I, Tonya,” Robbie has found a way out of this critical rut and has been given a chance to show off her talent as a lead actress.

The film features Robbie as Tonya Harding, an infamous figure skater who managed to compete in two Winter Olympics competitions but was ostracized by the sports and the public for her potential involvement in the planning of an attack on fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan in 1994. The film explores how she juggles her relationships with psychotic people like  her mother, LaVona (Allison Janney, “The Girl on the Train”), who abuses her into becoming an expert skater, and her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan, “Captain America: Civil War”).

The story of the film is told through interviews with Tonya herself and the key figures in her life: LaVona, Gillooly, her former trainer, Diane Rawlinson (Julianne Nicholson) and her bodyguard, Shawn Echhardt (Paul Walter Hauser, “A Midsummer’s Nightmare”). The interviewees all claim their side of the story is true, offering some contradictory moments occasionally told through breaking the fourth wall. In the scenes where Harding and Jeff give differing accounts of the latter abusing the former, it especially brings to mind real celebrity scandals where the ones accused of wrongdoing deny that anything happened. These contradictions can also be considered a comment on how films that are based on true stories turn a lot of factual events into fictional storytelling.

It is true that finding a film which tells the whole truth about its subject matter is rare, but even the beginning of the film shows the “based on…” disclaimer; this is done intentionally, as the film asks viewers to believe the story of Harding’s life and her position on the Kerrigan attack.

The whole film seems to revel in how psychotic some of these characters can be. For instance, Echardt talks about his business dealings like he is a secret spy on a mission. LaVona spits obscene dialogue that is both shocking and hilarious at the same time. The film itself seems to know how unbelievable and upsetting it is that Harding keeps ending up with Gillooly again and again, despite how hard she tries to get away from his abuse. This additionally, and intentionally, makes Gilloly out to be really pathetic.

The final and most important thing to mention is Robbie’s performance. She is a revelation. Not only can she pull off being sympathetic as Harding, but she also plays up the darker moments successfully. Her bickering with some of the people in her life makes it clear that LaVona has passed on to Harding some of her psychotic behavior.

A standout moment is when she enters the ice rink for her second Winter Olympics competition. Determined to pull off a strong performance, Harding starts but stops midway in tears as she skates over to the judges to beg for extra time, due to a faulty skate. This is a woman who has encountered bad luck and is almost destroyed by it completely. If there is one Best Actress nominee who can give Frances McDormand a run for her money this year, Robbie fits the bill.

Image from ONE Media via YouTube.com