Unstoppable

Rated PG-13 • Prime Video

The 2025 men’s Division I national college wrestling championship will take place in March at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Fourteen years ago in the same arena, Anthony Robles took to the mat for the 125-pound title against the defending national champion despite being born with only one leg.

The new film Unstoppable tells Anthony’s inspiring story from his high school days to that memorable match. Not only did he compete at the highest level despite a significant physical disadvantage—and he didn’t use a prosthetic leg—he persevered through the chaos of a broken home. The film is a tribute (laced with numerous expletives) to Anthony’s indomitable spirit.

And to his mom’s.

The wrestling mat isn’t the only place Anthony (Jharrel Jerome) is missing one of two critical sources of support: His stepfather (Bobby Cannavale) is physically abusive and financially irresponsible.

Anthony faces a difficult choice before he leaves Mesa High School in Arizona because a high school national championship isn’t enough to bring recruitment offers from elite university wrestling programs. Anthony must decide whether to accept a full scholarship from a less prestigious wrestling school or try to make the team at a top program as a walk-on. Continuing to care for his mother Judy (Jennifer Lopez) and younger siblings sways Anthony’s decision about college.

Amateur wrestling isn’t mindless fighting but a highly technical sport: arm bars, cradles, and headlocks are strategically executed moves. On occasion, a powerful takedown or masterful escape brings fans to their feet. Unstoppable is like that—an adequate sports biopic that choreographs a few rousing highlights. Jerome (who wore a green cloth around his right leg that visual artists “removed” in postproduction) delivers a solid performance, as do Michael Peña and Don Cheadle, who play Anthony’s high school and college wrestling coaches. Lopez’s tender turn as a downtrodden yet resilient mother also stands out.

The film has inspiring moments, but they come outside of the high-pressure matches, which mostly go the way you expect them to go. During indoor and outdoor practices, Anthony’s teammates, all former high school stars themselves, grow to respect him for his extraordinary work ethic. After much unwarranted rejection, he wins over his critics. His bloody, gritty drive pinned this “critic” with tearful admiration as well. In one scene, for example, Anthony strains through a 3-mile run up a steep rocky trail—on crutches!

Perhaps it should be said that behind every great matman is a great mother. That’s the Robleses’ story, anyway: Judy’s determination to support her son and keep her family together is the stuff of legends, too.