The Build-Up: Wattpad Fame and Fan Expectations
Before Perfect Addiction hit screens and streaming, there was already a buzz. It’s based on Claudia Tan’s novel, a Wattpad romance story that amassed over 80 million reads. That kind of fanbase brings strong expectations: people who already know Sienna, Jax, and Kayden wanted fidelity to the book, fiery romance, steamy fight training, and emotional payoff.
Casting choices added more to the hype. Kiana Madeira (Sienna) had done Fear Street and the After series—roles that mix vulnerability and strength. Ross Butler (Kayden) had built a name via 13 Reasons Why and Shazam, and Matthew Noszka (Jax) was known as a brooding, attractive figure. The promise was: we’ll get an MMA romance movie with heat, with real fight training, with heart and conflict. In interviews, the actors said they trained seriously—not just rehearsals, but real MMA and kickboxing work.
So expectations were clear: a strong female lead, emotional complexity beyond the romantic triangle, credible fight scenes, and a satisfying revenge arc. Fans also hoped for faithful adaptation of book moments: the betrayal, the gym warfare, and the tension between wanting success and healing from hurt.
Diving into the Story: Betrayal, Revenge, and Unexpected Growth
At its core, Perfect Addiction is about Sienna Lane, a successful mixed martial arts trainer. She believes she and her champion boyfriend, Jax, share a perfect partnership. But that illusion is shattered when she discovers he’s cheating on her—with her own sister, Beth.
Furious, hurt, and humiliated, Sienna plans revenge. Her weapon: she will train Kayden Williams, Jax’s rival. She believes Kayden is the only one who can challenge Jax in the ring. As she works with Kayden, she finds that loyalty, ambition, anger, and desire tangle in dangerous ways. The film’s emotional arc traces these lines: hatred, betrayal, jealousy, but also tenderness, self-worth, and the painful awareness that loving someone can force you to confront your own weaknesses.
Parallel to this, Jax’s character isn’t just a villain. The film tries to show his abusive emotional manipulation, his pride, and the damage he causes—but some viewers felt that his arc was under-cooked. Kayden, on the other hand, is more of a foil: less polished, perhaps more grounded, but also dealing with his own insecurities. Sienna’s journey ends up being more than revenge—it’s about whether she can step into her own strength, whether she can fight not only for someone else’s fall but for her own rise. She begins to envision herself not just as a trainer or vengeful ex, but possibly stepping into being a fighter herself. The moral complexity and growth happen mostly in Sienna’s mind and in small moments: a confrontation, a training session, a moment of vulnerability.
What Worked (and What Didn’t): Emotion, Fight, Chemistry
Some cinematic elements hit exactly the marks:
Physical training scenes: Kiana Madeira and Ross Butler both went through real combat training before filming. That investment shows—their bodies move credibly; bruises, sweat, and exhaustion feel real.
Chemistry between leads: Many agree that the tension between Sienna and Kayden is one of the more watchable parts. The slow shift from professional, revenge-fuelled training to caring, complicated intimacy is believable in places.
Emotional themes: Abuse, betrayal, self-worth, the cost of ambition—these are strong threads, especially in Sienna’s arc. Her relationship with her trainer Julian (Manu Bennett) serves as a stabilizer and mentor figure, something many viewers thought elevated the film beyond a simple romantic revenge plot.
But some elements didn’t land as well:
Fight choreography impact: While training scenes look good, some critics and fans felt the climactic fights lacked visceral punch. When you expect MMA brutality, you want tension, danger, and risk. In places the movie plays too safe.
Character depth, especially Jax: Jax is at times more a plot device than a fully realized character. His wrongdoing drives Sienna, but the film doesn’t explore deeply why he is abusive or what vulnerability he has. That weakens the emotional payoff, because revenge arcs need the antagonist to be more than just bad.
Pacing and tonal shifts: The film wobbles between sports action, romance, betrayal, and melodrama. Some romantic moments feel abrupt—like how quickly Sienna’s feelings toward Kayden emerge—while some betrayal scenes drag, weighed down by balancing fan expectations with cinematic storytelling.
The Actors Behind the Roles: Career Moments and Real-Life Resonance
Kiana Madeira, playing Sienna, came into this film with experience in teenage and young adult romance. Those roles often asked her to show vulnerability, trauma, or secrets. In Perfect Addiction, she leans into both physical strength and emotional fragility. Off-screen, she spoke about how physically and emotionally challenging the role was: training, pushing limits, handling on-camera intimacy, and portraying abuse in ways she described as important but uncomfortable.
Ross Butler as Kayden similarly stepped into something different. He frequently played the “nice guy” or supportive love interest in earlier romances; here, he is more raw and conflicted. He had to embody the underdog fighter, someone with demons and insecurities. He said the role stretched him, from fight training to showing vulnerability beyond his usual cool persona.
Matthew Noszka as Jax had to balance attractiveness, power, and toxicity. For many fans, Jax was the antagonist they loved to hate. Noszka’s past as a model and social media personality created expectations: would he bring nuance or just look good while being mean? Some felt he leaned toward the latter—his performance was serviceable, but less layered compared to Madeira and Butler.
When Reality Colors the Screen: Hype Versus Turnout
So, did Perfect Addiction meet expectations? The short answer: partly. It did enough to satisfy fans of the book and the genre—romance mixed with revenge, physicality, emotional tension. It has charm in its leads, some strong scenes, and a few moments that linger. But for viewers who wanted more depth, grit, and fully fleshed characters, it sometimes feels like it stopped short.
Some expected a more faithful adaptation. Book fans felt certain plot points were sped up or softened. Some of the steamiest or more controversial scenes from the novel were trimmed, perhaps for a broader audience. And while training montages and romantic heat are present, the film doesn’t always sustain the tension: sometimes romance overshadows the fight, sometimes the fight overshadows emotional fallout.
Little-Known Struggles and Behind-the-Scenes Frictions
Here are some of the behind-the-scenes notes and controversies you may have missed:
Physical and emotional toll: Both Kiana Madeira and Ross Butler admitted that parts of filming were punishing. The fight and training sequences weren’t just staged—they involved real training with MMA practitioners, leading to injuries and exhaustion.
Adapting a Wattpad hit: The source material’s massive online fanbase meant pressure. Readers had specific expectations about tone, detail, and heat. The production team had to balance fan service with what works visually. Some fans were disappointed in what was left out, especially internal monologues that carried much of the book’s intensity.
Tone and rating choices: There was chatter that steamy scenes and depictions of abuse might have been toned down to avoid restrictive ratings or to appeal to a wider audience. This could explain why some betrayal or emotional confrontation moments feel less raw than expected.
Jax’s underdeveloped arc: Writers reportedly had intended to give him more backstory, but either runtime or focus on the Sienna/Kayden dynamic cut it short. That left fans debating whether he was simply villainous or a broken man whose flaws deserved deeper exploration.
Filming location challenges: The movie was shot in Poland, where weather and location constraints reportedly impacted production. Scheduling around fight choreography and set limitations may have affected the scale or realism of certain fight sequences.