Halle Berry debuts in "Bruised" shot in New Jersey

The film Bruised stars Oscar winner Halle Berry and is her directorial debut. The story of a former conservator who is struggling to regain custody of her son and revive her athletic career. Bruised was written by Michelle Rosenfarb and produced by Basil Iwanyk, Brad Feinstein, Guymon Casady, Linda Gottlieb, Erica Lee, Gillian G. Hormel, Paris Kassidokosta Latsis, and Terry Douglas.

Filmed all over New Jersey, the film was primarily shot at Jim Whelan in Atlantic City and the Elite Heat Boxing Gym on Mount Pleasant Avenue in Newark.

Halle Berry Bruised Newark

On the second day of filming the main fight scene in "Bruised," Halle Berry shattered two ribs, however, you'd never guess she'd been marginalized based on her grit and bravado onstage.

In "Bruised," Berry portrays down-and-out Newark fighter Jackie Justice in a redemption drama that takes viewers on a tour of New Jersey while also introducing Berry as a new director. Jackie is transported from the streets of Newark to Atlantic City, where she competes for a second chance at mixed martial arts stardom.

"Bruised," a comeback story penned by Michelle Rosenfarb and launching on Netflix on Wednesday, Nov. 24, is cast in a well-worn Hollywood mold with some significant alterations.

Jackie used to be the talk of the town, but she lost big in a UFC battle in Las Vegas, running out of the cage when things got difficult.

We rapidly see that this is a recurring issue in her life: when she is truly terrified, she flees.

Jackie is living in the shadow of her loss with her boyfriend and manager Desi, four years after her unexpected choice to leave (Adan Canto).

They're both alcoholics, and while Jackie wants to quit, she keeps a bottle of liquor in the kitchen to feed her addiction.

Jackie scrubs toilets and cleans houses for a living after leaving MMA until a run-in with a homeowner's young son cuts off the source of money. Jackie is still suffering from the aftermath of her previous fight. Every statement hits like another punch to the belly when passersby know the fighter and remind her of her glory days.

It doesn't get any easier as time passes. She urgently wants to vanish, to be forgotten.

Manny, Jackie's 6-year-old son whom she abandoned before that fatal fight, arrives unexpectedly, threatening to send her into yet another collapse.

She can't undo what she's done when she has another life to live — a cause to keep going.

Bruised is currently out now and available now!