Undercard is a rousing boxing movie, a well-made family drama, and a remarkable dramatic debut for trailblazing comedian Wanda Sykes (who received the St. Louis International Film Festival’s inaugural Trailblazer award). I can’t praise her performance and that of her co-star Bentley Green enough. Director Tamika Miller and her two lead actors lend the film sensitivity and grace which leap off the screen.
It’s tricky to pull off such grace when your film deals with such heavy subject matter. Sykes plays fictional former boxer Cheryl “No Mercy” Stewart, whose mistakes in life have made her estranged from her troubled adult son Keith (Green) as she looks after her young niece Meka (Estella Kahiha). A few years sober, Cheryl coaches young boxers at the gym of her former trainer “Baba T” (William Stanford Davis), but Keith trains at a rival gym with shady promoters. When she finally convinces Keith — who had previously disowned her as his mother — to work with her, another young fighter under her tutelage named Kordell (Xavier Mills) departs for the rival gym, believing that Cheryl will favor her son, thus setting up the in-the-ring plot line of the movie.
For as involving as that side of the story is, what makes Undercard special is its dramatic weight. Cheryl is short on cash, and — when we first meet her, anyway — short on patience. To be fair, few people in her life aren’t equally as short with her, including and especially Keith. But for as many times as her ship dashes against the rocks, Cheryl finds just as many rudders to guide her way, and the will power to overcome it all. As the story unfolds, Cheryl and Keith begin to heal their broken relationship, culminating in a powerful scene where both have a kind of breakdown and are called on to rebuild each other.
It feels odd to say this about someone who’s been in show business for as long as she has, but Sykes is a revelation here. There are comedic moments for her to play, but there is never an ounce of insincerity or anything less than total assuredness in her dramatic acting. About twenty minutes in, I no longer saw Wanda Sykes. I only saw Cheryl. For Bentley Green’s part, he lends credibility to both sides of Keith: his anger at and distrust of his mother, and his gradual willingness to hear her out, and, eventually, to love her. The two performers really seem bonded, so much so that that aspect of the movie is its triumph much more so than anything that could possibly happen in the ring.
However, in terms of the in-ring side of things, that aspect of the film is strong as well. Knowing that Green was not a boxer before making this movie, I was blown away by how natural and well-choreographed the fights are here. The filmmakers also do a nice job of matching moments of fights with bits of Cheryl’s coaching through editing. All in all, the bond between drama and sports movie here feels just as strong as the bond between mother and son. | George Napper
The 34th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival runs Nov. 6-16, 2025 at various locations around St. Louis. Further information is available from the Cinema St. Louis web site.
