Consensual violence is, bizarrely, quite intimate. There was only one hospital visit while making this film.

Strangers, friends, lovers, and coworkers pair up to fist fight on camera. Exploring consent, trust, masculinity-femininity, and of course violence, this strange little film casts a surprisingly broad thematic net. If you’ve never been in a fight, or if you object to violence altogether, I hope you reconsider after watching these surprising moments of tenderness.

Before and after portraits of the fighters can be found at solmund.com/shiners