The stuntwork and fight choreography in Atomic Blonde, particularly on the stair fight scene, is very much worth watching. It’s impressive and brutal and it doesn’t cut wildly to conceal anything or in an attempt to make it more exciting. It feels just like real fights feel. Most particularly, it accurately portrays — unlike really any other movie — just how incredibly exhausted you get when you’re fighting all out. There are parts of that scene where the two (or more) combatants just cannot fight anymore, though they are trying to kill one another, because they are completely drained of all energy.

That’s absolutely accurate. I’ve been in fights before that I could not even stand up at the conclusion of, though I wasn’t severely injured, because I was so enervated. I could barely move. I couldn’t even raise my arms.

The part of the scene where Charlize Theron finds a weapon, tries to stand up, and then just falls over from utter exhaustion…so perfect. I’ve done that! The thing is, you are so keyed up on adrenaline that you don’t know how done you are so it’s a shock when you can’t stand up. Whoever choreographed that scene has been in a fight before in real life, I can guarantee it. So, so good.