Some films simply tell a story and take you to another place to “escape” your life for a few hours. Other films change how you see your life, and influence you more AFTER the viewing experience ends. STANDOUT: The Ben Kjar Story is definitely the latter.
The first time I watched it, I noticed the film does something rare in modern cinema: it takes a life marked by cruelty, health issues, and impossible odds and transforms it into a “how to” for the viewer on positivity and resiliency.
In this film, Director Tanner Christensen has crafted a mirror that forces audiences to confront their own excuses and, like Ben, challenges them to “disobey average” to become their best selves.
A Face That Changed Everything
Born with Crouzon syndrome—a rare craniofacial condition that affects skull and facial bone development—Ben Kjar received a prognosis that promised a life of limitations.
Doctors told his parents their son would live a different kind of life.
They were absolutely right. Just not in the way anyone predicted.
STANDOUT: The Ben Kjar Story chronicles Kjar’s extraordinary trajectory from a childhood defined by hospital beds and relentless bullying to world champion wrestler and internationally sought-after motivational speaker.
The film premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2025 before collecting awards at festivals worldwide—and earning devoted audiences who recognize something universal in Kjar’s particular struggle.
Kjar’s early years read like a medical marathon: multiple skull surgeries to accommodate brain growth, facial reconstructions, endless recovery periods.
But the physical pain paled against something far worse—the world’s reaction to his appearance.
Children stared.
Adults pointed.
Strangers said exactly what they thought, without any kindness filters considered.
One incident captured in the film crystallizes this cruelty. Young Ben had spent two weeks saving 100 pennies to buy a Twix bar.
Proud and eager, he walked to the local grocery store to claim his prize. At checkout, an adult stranger turned Ben into a cautionary tale for his own children, mocking the boy loudly enough for everyone to hear: “Can you believe this kid goes out in public with a face like that? No wonder he’s alone.”
The man then pulled his children away, warning them not to touch Ben because he was “probably contagious.”
Ben ran home, crushed his candy bar in despair, and locked himself in the bathroom desperately trying to figure out how to remove his own face.
What happened next became an inflection point in the film (and Ben’s life).
Ben’s mother found him broken and sobbing. Rather than simply offering comfort, she delivered a reframe that would reshape his entire existence.
She made him look in the mirror. Then she spoke seven words that became his life’s operating system: “Ben, you’re born different to make a difference.”
The attention would come regardless, she told him. People would stare. The question was what he’d do with that visibility. “Don’t hide from it,” she said. “Take hold of it—and shine.”
Wrestling: Where There’s Nowhere to Hide
Kjar found his proving ground in wrestling—a sport of brutal honesty where excuses evaporate the moment you step on the mat. No teammates to carry you. No clock to hide behind. Just you and an opponent who wants to break your will.
He struggled initially. Undersized. Outmatched. Losing more than winning. But the sport taught him something invaluable: what he calls “disobedience to average.”
“If everyone does what’s asked, that’s average,” Kjar explains. “To stand out, you have to do more.”
He called his shot with audacious specificity. As a sophomore, he bought a patch reading “3XSC” for his letterman jacket—a declaration that he would become a three-time state champion before he’d won anything.
Little did he know that bold patch became a prophecy.
He claimed all three titles, then enrolled at Utah Valley University, where he became the school’s first NCAA Division I All-American wrestler.
He later competed internationally for Team USA and captured a world championship—a personal summit!
Vulnerability as Strength
What elevates STANDOUT beyond standard inspirational fare is its refusal to sanitize its subject. Tanner Christensen deliberately includes Kjar’s doubts, defeats, and moments of genuine fragility. Tanner also interviewed many of Ben’s former wrestling “nemesis” figures who weren’t always in Ben’s corner.
This film is definitely nota highlight reel pretending struggle doesn’t exist. It is a very honest examination of how resilience is constructed one painful step at a time.
“I used to think obstacles were dead ends,” Kjar reflects. “Now I see them as new beginnings. What if it wasn’t the wrong ‘no,’ but the right ‘no’ to get you to the right ‘yes’?”
Beyond the Mat
Kjar’s story extends far past athletics. He’s built a successful speaking career, delivering his message of intentional living to audiences numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
The philosophical core of STANDOUT centers on what Kjar describes as the shift from victim to victor thinking (and this is exhibited in all aspects of Ben’s life).
“The victim says, ‘Life is happening to me,'” he explains. “The victor says, ‘Life is happening for me.’ Same pain. Same trial. Totally different lens.”
This isn’t toxic positivity. And it’s not denial dressed up in motivational language.
It’s a hard-won perspective forged through decades of proving people wrong (and, more importantly, proving his inner voice of confidence right).
STANDOUT poses an uncomfortable question that lingers long after the credits roll: What would your life look like if you stopped trying to fit in and chose to stand out?
The film offers no easy formulas. What it delivers instead is something more valuable—unguarded honesty and a challenge to reconsider how we choose to respond when life delivers its hardest blows.
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IMDB site: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31157145/
Director: Tanner Christensen
Producer: T.C. Christensen
Producer: Jared Hess
Producer: Ben Kjar
Guest Author
dyejo
