One of the most searched aspects of is its factual accuracy. The film is upfront about its unreliability. It literally opens with a title card stating it is based on "irony-free, wildly contradictory, totally true interviews."
Director Craig Gillespie (who also directed Cruella and Lars and the Real Girl ) uses rapid-fire montages. The skating sequences are shot with floating steadicams that make you feel the ice beneath your feet. The fight scenes—specifically the brutal domestic violence sequence set to "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart"—are jarringly realistic, refusing to let the comedy of the first act soften the horror of the second. I- Tonya
: The film emphasizes the grit required for Tonya to succeed—sewing her own costumes and skating to rock music—while being docked points by judges for not being "wholesome". One of the most searched aspects of is its factual accuracy
In the age of social media cancelations, "trial by media" documentaries, and the podcast-driven obsession with 90s crime, I, Tonya feels prescient. It asks uncomfortable questions: The skating sequences are shot with floating steadicams
: By having characters speak directly to the audience during scenes of violence or dispute, the film highlights that there is no "objective" version of the incident.