I, Tonya begins by stating it is ‘based on irony-free, wildly contradictory, totally true interviews with Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly’, and the multiple perspectives this provides, combined with a snappy script and darkly comic sensibility, makes I, Tonya a blast of a film that entertains, whilst also humanising the figure at its heart.

Whilst now infamous for the incident where her ex-husband orchestrated the assault of her rival Nancy Kerrigan, the film tracks Tonya (Margot Robbie) from a young skating protégé through her childhood, through the promising blossoming of her career as a teenager and young adult, before finally addressing the incident. We see the abuse Tonya grew up with from her mother LaVona (Allison Janney), and the abuse she then suffered from boyfriend-turned-husband-turned-ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan). This, coupled with the prejudice she faced in skating for not being middle class and wealthy (which translated to her needing to hand-make her costumes which she was derided for) resulted in a much tougher road to skating success, than merely fostering her talent.

The film is an engaging and blackly comic ride that manages to strike just the right tone with the humour, that it doesn’t undermine the seriousness of some of the events depicted. It tells the tale from the perspectives of Tonya, Jeff and LaVona, with mostly the intercut to-camera interviews from each of them, as well as intermittent fourth-wall breaks indicating whose telling of the scenes we are seeing (for example, Tonya shooting at her husband before turning to the camera proclaiming ‘I never did this’). This makes for a much more layered and nuanced story, as well as one that leads to a brilliant ambiguity about the truth, much like that which exists in reality. Despite this, however, this is certainly an telling empathetic to Tonya. It humanises her in taking us beyond the headlines, and into the life of a real person. It doesn’t use her past to excuse any alleged actions or behaviour, but instead lets it speak to the irony of the situation she was cast in, with her even pointing out in the film the fact that Kerrigan got hit once and it blew up, but she was beaten her whole life.

A film like this, despite so many fantastic other elements, couldn’t function properly without a powerhouse performance at its core, and Robbie delivers in spades. A tour de force, she is completely transformed, believably sinking into the skin of Tonya, and communicating her struggles and internal life, taking her beyond the one note media portrayal, and crafting a complex and nuanced character that gets us on side, but remains flawed. She is matched by a brilliant Janney who torpedoes through every scene she’s in, delivering another transformative and memorable performance as the cruel mother, who has flickers of sadness and pain behind her eyes. Stan too is excellent as Jeff, as is Paul Walter Hauser, who delivers a hilarious turn as the conspiring ‘bodyguard’.

The film pulsates with an energy that keeps it gripping and skating along. It is scored by a killer soundtrack that helps to buoy this vigor and dynamism, as well as take you into the time period of the events. This is not your standard biopic, and it is all the more better for it. Director Craig Gillespie’s handling of the tone and bringing of all the eclectic elements together makes this one stand out as something fresh and different, and by no means dry in any way, shape or form.

The film is wise in choosing not to centre itself wholly on ‘the incident’ (despite a character in the film even claiming ‘this is what you came for’), not trying to stretch it out too much in ways that other biopics have with singular events. It puts the audience is put in the hot seat when it comes for not considering the person behind the newspaper stories – any judgments you may reconsider after viewing this. The meta nature of the film and unreliable narration makes for a much more interesting viewing but so, whilst it may give you a lot more insight into Tonya and ‘the incident’, it doesn’t come to any conclusive truth (as it doesn’t seem to exist or have been revealed to us), allowing you to still form your own opinions.

A meta, energetic and nuanced telling of Tonya’s life, this is gripping and hilarious, but never lets its energy undermine the serious topics portrayed. Marked by some fantastic performances, I, Tonya may just change your mind about its title character, and how you come to view scandals.