It follows the life and career of American figure skater Tonya Harding and her connection to the 1994 assault on her rival Nancy Kerrigan.

The film states it is based on "contradictory" and "totally true" interviews with Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, suggesting they are unreliable narrators.

Loosely based on actual events, the film depicts Harding as a victim, reframing the narrative around her implication in the aftermath of the crime and other criticism of her actions.

[5][6] I, Tonya premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, and was released theatrically in the United States on December 8, 2017.

[9] In 1974 Portland, Oregon, a four-year-old Tonya Harding is forced to ice-skate by her physically abusive mother, LaVona Golden.

As Tonya grows up, her parents take her out of school to focus on her skating career as she trains under coach Diane Rawlinson.

Tonya rapidly becomes one of the best figure skaters in the United States, but is held back by her "white trash" reputation, homemade costumes, and unconventional choice of performance music (e.g., ZZ Top).

On the day of her November 1993 competition at the Northwest Pacific Regional Championships in Portland, Tonya receives a death threat and chooses not to compete.

[13] According to Rogers, Gillooly also said that it was his own idea to threaten Nancy Kerrigan's ability to perform and took responsibility for his part in Harding's 1994 ruin: "he doesn't want to profit from it.

"[12][13] Margot Robbie, who played Harding and co-produced the film, did not realize the screenplay was based on a real event until after she finished reading it.

[10] Shortly after the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, she said, "I think LaVona was actually a very smart woman, very articulate[...] She was not messing around and didn't want [Tonya] distracted[...] She wanted [Tonya] to know that it was going to be hard work, and knowing her daughter needed to be told she couldn't do it in order to do it was LaVona's way of saying, 'I was there to inspire her'.

"[18] Director Craig Gillespie was interested in the project because he "realized it was a great opportunity to revisit the story and make a commentary about how the media treats people.

[21][22][23] Throughout the shoot, Robbie suffered from a herniated disc in her neck and had routine MRIs to ensure it was safe for her to continue filming skating scenes.

Critic Emily Manning found that others, such as En Vogue's "Free Your Mind" and Heart's "Barracuda", created "an interesting parallel between Tonya's tenacity and ambition.

[29] A soundtrack was released on December 8, 2017, by Milan Records, featuring songs used in the film by various artists and tracks from the original score.

The website's critical consensus reads: "Led by strong work from Margot Robbie and Allison Janney, I, Tonya finds the humor in its real-life story without losing sight of its more tragic – and emotionally resonant – elements.

[44] Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com described it as "an irresistible, soapy mix of jealousy, competition and class warfare, fortified by powerful performances and unexpected emotional resonance.

"[45] In Rolling Stone, Peter Travers wrote that the film holds "a mirror up to the class-conscious America most of us tend to ignore or dismiss – and makes us see ourselves reflected in it, too.

[47] Ty Burr of The Boston Globe wrote that it was one of the most surprising films of the year - a "multi-layered saga of talent and class resentment".

Burr wrote that the domestic abuse scenes are presented effectively because of the film's style of "ironic as-told-to comedy that intentionally curdles when the extent of [violence]...and Harding's grim acceptance...of it become obvious".

However, when writing of the scene where Harding voices how she has internalized a victim-like identity, Burr believed the filmmakers failed to appreciate the scope of what that really means to her.

[48] Richard Brody of The New Yorker felt the film failed to find an original depiction of the working class, and "treats Tonya's background, her tastes, her habits, her way of talking, as a joke...

Lemire of RogerEbert.com said: "Janney absolutely tears it up as the profane, chain-smoking LaVona Harding, constantly insulting Tonya and messing with her mind in the name of making her a champion.

It's a showy, scenery-chewing performance but it's not one-note; Janney brings an undercurrent of sorrow to the part in revealing LaVona's twisted methodology.

"[45] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post wrote, "Janney steals every scene she's in, playing LaVona, a harridan whose nodding goes beyond tough love.

[52] Brian Truitt of USA Today said, "Janney is magnificent as Tonya Harding's villainous and abusive mommy dearest.

No curse word goes unused and no scenery is left unchewed by the actress, who takes over whenever she's onscreen, whether dealing with a pesky parakeet or breaking the fourth wall.