As the holiday season upon us, I’m sure most of us cross our fingers and hope that we can gather with our family without fighting with each other. Well, Embattled takes the concept of fighting with your family to a new level, as the narrative pits father against son in the MMA ring. The result is an endearing and entertaining story with many complicated family relationships at the center of the conflict.

In Embattled, Jett (Darren Mann, Giant Little Ones) seeks to follow in his father’s footsteps as a successful professional MMA fighter. His father Cash (Stephen Dorff), however, is far from role model material, as he’s estranged from his ex wife and special needs son, constantly exhibiting anger issues, and steeped in a toxic masculine mentality and lifestyle. Although Jett has reestablished a relationship with his father, a series of events and revelations sets Jett on a contentious course that ultimately finds him in a high stakes matchup with Cash in a 

It’s a movie that thrives on great performances. Mann is tasked with managing a lot of emotions with his character as he bounces between being a struggling student, a devoted caretaker for his brother with Williams Syndrome, and an up-and-coming fighter. There’s a vast emotional range to cover in this roll, and Mann makes it happen organically. The characters around him contribute greatly to his story - like Susan (Elizabeth Reaser, The Haunting of Hill House), his mom and ex-wife who constantly bears the fatigue of having had Cash in her life and now more prominently in her son’s life. And Quinn, Jett’s brother played by the screenwriter's son Colin McKenna who lives with the disability.

But the standout performance is from Stephen Dorff, whose portrayal of Cash blends an abrasive personality with an understandable mentality on earning success. Most of his presence on screen is filled with selfish and misogynistic banter, but there are a number of scenes where Cash’s anger issues allow Dorff to explode on screen, and the effort is highly effective in believably communicating how complicated the character is.

With Embattled, director Nick Sarkisov has a film that demonstrates his aptitude to handle complex narratives and intricate relationships between characters. Embattled might seem to have a lot going on with so many conflicts between so many of the characters, but it's pieced together in a cohesive way, making for a good family drama film as well as a great mature MMA movie. Jett and Cash might be embattled, but when trying to decide whether Embattled is worth a watch this holiday season, there’s no fighting necessary.

Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 1 | What does this mean?