Netflix recently launched a French sports drama titled, The Cage, which has been trending in the top 10 TV shows. The drama tells the story of an amateur mixed martial artist (MMA) attempting to go professional. If you are a fan of boxing movies such as Creed and, Rocky, or have no background in MMA, The Cage is a good preview into the world of the sport. The show does a great job of developing the protagonist’s character by exposing us to the internal and external hardships that impact him as an MMA fighter. The Cage also adds a sense of realism to the story by featuring real MMA fighters who serve a central role in the advancement of the protagonist. Let’s explore how these choices impacted the overall storytelling when highlighting the world of MMA.
The Cage introduces us to an amateur MMA French fighter named Taylor Keita (Melvin Boomer), who dreams of becoming a professional fighter by making it to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Taylor has a few local fight wins under his belt as he trains at a local gym owned by an MMA coach named Boss (Franck Gastambide). Upon being challenged by his former protégé and professional MMA fighter, Ibrahim Ibara (Bosh), to fight one of his trainees, Boss reluctantly agrees to a match at the gym when Taylor accepts the challenge. This match shifts Taylor’s fighting career trajectory when he happens to knock out Ibrahim and become a viral sensation.
The biggest challenge impeding Taylor from his goal is his tumultuous home life and internal self-limiting beliefs. From the beginning of The Cage, he experiences doubt from his coach and mother, further fueling his limiting beliefs. He is about to give up on his training before Ibrahim walks into the gym and demands a match, and he takes advantage of the opportunity to prove himself. After going viral on social media, he is invited to a podcast by real-life dynamic French MMA fighter, Ciryl Gane, where the interviewers make fun of his potential and claim he was lucky to knock out Ibrahim. This further impacts his low self-esteem, which leads him to challenge Ibrahim to an official fight.
In The Cage the audience has a preview into the inner world of Taylor’s mind, through his facial expression and body language. Due to the lack of belief in his skills, the audience is also left questioning whether he can defeat Ibrahim and become a professional MMA fighter. After he is sent to train with real-life icon and former Canadian MMA fighter, Georges St-Pierre, the audience feels a sense of hope and relief for Taylor. The Cage is intentional about intertwining real-life MMA fighters in the show, which heightens the stakes of the story. Before his introduction, Taylor mentions how St-Pierre is his favorite fighter, so when the two cross paths and St-Pierre takes a chance on him, his dream seems much more attainable.
Unfortunately, the audience is pulled back into doubt whenever Taylor’s home environment is depicted on screen. The Cage portrays Taylor’s mom as a manipulator who leeches off his son and couldn’t care less about his success as a fighter. This is heartbreaking for the viewers, because despite her lack of care, Taylor is a dutiful son who adores his mother. As a result, she and her conniving boyfriend ask Taylor to intentionally lose the game against Ibrahim so they can win a bet; to which he reluctantly agrees. This is yet another blow to his newfound confidence after training with MMA fighter St-Pierre. Ultimately, it is ruled that Taylor and Ibrahim both tied in their MMA match, which further creates turmoil for his mother, who owes dangerous people money.
Through this obstacle, The Cage reminds the audience that despite Taylor choosing to put his dreams first, his self-actualization is quickly shattered by external circumstances. Taylor is forced to participate in paid MMA tournaments against fighters outside his weight class to recoup the money owed by his mother. This proves to be a challenge when he is knocked out during one of the tournaments, which results in severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite trying to push through the mental block, he is forced to forfeit from a much-anticipated rematch with Ibrahim. This is an extremely low blow to his self-worth and after hitting rock bottom, he cannot seem to claw his way out.
At this point, The Cage introduces real-life prolific American MMA fighter and the current UFC Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones, who is tasked with training Taylor and igniting back his fire for the sport. Unlike St-Pierre, who is an actor, this was Jones’ acting debut on screen, which many fans were eager to witness. His time with Taylor proves to be useful because he leaves motivated to beat Ibrahim at the ARES championship and become the best MMA fighter in the French circuit. Winning this fight would allow him to get into the UFC, so the stakes are high. His coach is unable to guide him through the fight due to being hospitalized. As a result, St-Pierre returns to act as his stand-in coach, which affirms the audience that Taylor’s dreams are within reach.
Ultimately, The Cage does a good job of taking us through Taylor’s roller coaster wave of emotional highs and lows. Just when he confronts his internal limitations and confidence in his abilities, it is quickly shattered by external circumstances. These external factors further fuel his limiting beliefs, so The Cage employs real MMA fighters to quiet Taylor’s self-doubt. They serve as a reminder of what is within reach when Taylor gets out of his head. At the beginning of the show, he is fueled by his insecurity and need to prove others wrong. By the end of the series, Taylor can confront the root of his doubt, his mother, by accepting that she will never validate him and fueling that disappointment into self-determination
If you are intrigued by a feel-good series that roots for the underdog or simply want to watch people fight each other, be sure to stream The Cage, currently on Netflix.
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