Giant Review: BFI London Film Festival 2025

Amir El-Masry and Pierce Brosnan star in boxing biopic Giant

Despite not following any particular sport in any detail, I have always been a fan of sports biopics. Tales of underdogs triumphing over adversity and great feats of human endeavour have a universal appeal, no matter the format of the sport or the stakes of the competition. But boxing biopic Giant, about former featherweight champion of the world ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed, is far from your usual sporting story. 

In 1980s Sheffield, Brendan Ingle (Pierce Brosnan) runs a community boxing gym where he teaches young boys to take their stresses out in the ring rather than on the streets, and amongst the masses, he has an eye for spotting future gems. One of those gems is seven-year-old Naz, a scrawny child from a Yemeni immigrant family who is constantly a victim of racist abuse. He wants to learn to fight to defend himself from bullies.

Despite his small stature, Naz has an ego as big as a house, talking a big game about how great a boxer he is far before he’s even had his first fight. He insists that he will one day be champion of the world. Brendan encourages this ego, teaching him to perform elaborate ring entrances and riling up opponents and officials wherever they go. Brendan raises Naz to take every piece of hate thrown at him and turn in to motivation to use in his fights, confident that this will make him a future winner.

But while Naz’s (Amir El-Masry) cockiness was cute as a child, it’s extremely off-putting as an adult. He mocks his opponents in the ring, gives press interviews claiming he is literally god’s gift to the world, and generally annoys absolutely everyone in the industry. An abrasive, offensive man, he is only made worse upon partnering with promoter Frank Warren, an ‘’all press is good press’’ kind of a guy who waxes lyrical about the ‘lads lads lads’ culture of the 90s and seeks to turn him not just into a sportsman, but a celebrity of the gutter press.

Brendan soon finds that he has created a monster – his eye was correct and Naz is winning fights, rapidly moving up the world rankings at a young age – but he’s also getting far too big for his boxing shorts. Naz increasingly decides that he doesn’t need Brendan, and a massive, very public rift is caused between the two men who were once as close as father and son. Brendan, upset at not being credited for making Naz the success he is, fights back.

It’s hard to grasp what the filmmaking intent of Giant is. A series of end credits pays tribute to Brendan Ingle and his place in both boxing and Sheffield history as an influential shaper of many young men. His affection and dedication to helping children does come across well, yet his story arc within Giant ultimately paints him as a bitter man, one who is obsessed with receiving his due rather than being a selfless public servant. It’s hardly a glowing picture.

Naz too, does not get his comeuppance, ending the film being depicted as a maybe very slightly repentant, but ultimately unpleasant and selfish man. It may or may not be true to life, but it’s very unsatisfying as a piece of storytelling.

I’ve never seen a sports biopic before in which the takeaway message seems to be that everyone concerned was a bit of a prick. A bit of a bemusing work with muddled messaging, Giant reads more as a cautionary tale about the dangers of ego than any sort of story of triumph of physical prowess. I’m not sure who the intended audience for this film is.

Giant is playing as part of the BFI London Film Festival. Wider release details have yet to be confirmed.

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