Film Review: Katie

During the opening of this documentary about boxer, Olympian and world-renowned athlete Katie Taylor, her promoter says, “I don’t think many people know Katie Taylor.” But Ross Whitaker is going to try and change that. Filming Taylor over 18 months after her defeat in the 2016 Rio Olympics, the director attempts to gain insight into her life and thought processes.

Taylor makes for a fascinating subject. In one detail itself worthy of a Hollywood recreation, it’s revealed that as a child, she disguised herself to fight in boys-only clubs – an introduction to the gender inequality that still plagues women’s boxing. But Taylor’s childhood passion and fearless determination never wavered, and her rise was stratospheric – until Rio, that is.

That event marked the first high-profile match that Taylor had fought – and lost – without her father and lifelong coach Pete Taylor, from whom she had become estranged. The personal and professional turmoil proves a devasting and transformative combination, and in many ways Katie plays like a coming-of-age story. Whitaker follows Taylor as she moves to America on her own, seeking out new opportunities, and a way to navigate a world no longer insulated by familial stability and enormous success.

This juxtaposition between Taylor’s ability to devastate opponents in the ring and her quiet, occasionally childlike nature is intriguing.

Her shyness also prompts an observant rather than interactive documentary style from the director, with mixed results. When effective, it shows Taylor’s faith as she tearfully prays before fights, and captures her determination and loneliness as she runs through the empty streets of Vernon, Connecticut, where she trains.

But occasionally, Whitaker’s respectful lack of scrutiny can do Taylor’s story a disservice. The boxer’s estrangement from Pete Taylor is mentioned briefly and without detail, which could explain the sense of betrayal, disillusionment and trauma that defines the trajectory of her career.

Taylor’s legacy is never in question, and you can’t watch Katie without respecting her deeply. But as to whether we now know her? I’m not sure.