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I, Tonya’s mockumentary style makes it an enjoyable romp through Tonya Harding’s eventful early life and period of success. The film is finessed by the spectacular performances of Margot Robbie (Tonya Harding) and Allison Janney (Harding’s mother). Janney in particular is a joy to watch, with her scenes being the most darkly humorous of the film. Janney is deserving of the awards season praise, and she has rightly won Best Supporting Actress at the Acadamy Awards, her first nomination.

The various opposing narratives of all the characters involved in the “Incident” (where rival Nancy Kerrigan was injured) are contrasted well, and the film is suitably sympathetic to Harding. We revel in Harding and her unpolished demeanour, but are frustrated at her bad choices – she throws skates at coaches, smokes, drinks and surrounds herself with unreliable individuals. All of this is put in the context of her abusive upbringing, which encourages us to fight her corner.

However, the film doesn’t break new ground in its class narrative. The efforts to present Tonya as “white trash” fail to rise above stereotypical portrayals and the film never delves deep enough to make a complex commentary on class relations in America. What is palpable is Tonya’s tenacity; she is fully aware of how contemptuous the judges and the figure skating community on the whole are towards her and she remains determined to change their minds.   

This makes the loneliness of Tonya’s life even more striking. Post-incident, she sits alone in her house, abandoned by everyone in her life except the media. Robbie performs best when she is expressing the vulnerability of Harding, most memorably seen before Harding takes to the rink at her final Olympic performance. The role doesn’t feel glamorized by Robbie, and her performance in this scene is her best yet.

The mockumentary style allows the various absurd strands of the plot to come together in the giant mess that is “The Incident”, but, thankfully, the film doesn’t try to impose some moral arc on this story – we are left to enjoy the characters’ rotten behaviour. The style makes the film stand out from other sporting biopics, and it does not detract from our relationship with Harding. Harding, as a figure skating champion and as a real life woman, is better understood as a result of the film, and we the audience are called out on our bloodthirsty media hounding of her once the scandal broke.