Young Woman and the Sea

Are you up for epic sports stories after the Olympics? 

Disney has a new sports film, Young Woman and the Sea, that made satisfy your need. Joachim Rønning's biopic of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, debuted on Disney Plus a few weeks ago after a limited theatrical release in May. Let's see how it is.

In 1914 New York, Trudy (Daisy Ridley) had an almost fatal bout of measles. She pulls through just after the doctor gives up all hope, though her hearing starts to decline afterwards. Her sister, Meg (Tilda Cobham-Harvey), takes up swimming lessons at their mother, Gertrude's (Jeanette Hain) insistence; Trudy later joins at Gertrude's reluctance. Trudy proves to be such a swimming pro that she is eventually scouted for the 1924 Paris Olympics. However, partially because of her trainer, Jabez Wolffe's (Christopher Eccleston) interference, she only gets a bronze medal. That's when she decides to swim the English Channel. She'll have to overcome natural and human difficulties to make that epic swim.

The screenplay, which Jeff Nathanson adapted from Glenn Stout's 2009 book, feels like many of Disney's inspirational sports dramas from back in the day (like Secretariat, which I reviewed in this blog's first year). I'm sure you'll recognize the formula once the montages kick in; we get at least two in quick succession when Trudy takes up swimming! But I can't deny how engrossing it gets at times, partially because both sets of actresses playing Meg and Trudy feel like real sisters. You'll be moved when Trudy recovers from measles, and later laugh when the sisters ditch a suitor on a pier. Even with its sports movie formula, you'll also feel something when the British shore lights up with bonfires to guide Trudy to the beach.

Trudy maybe a simple movie underdog, but it's beyond easy to cheer for her when she proves her doubters wrong. Just ask James Sullivan (Glenn Fleshler), a bigwig who only sponsors her after she beats his seemingly impossible swim challenge. She's surrounded by a much more supportive cast of characters, which include swim coach Charlotte Epstein (Sian Clifford); her father Henry (Kim Bodnia); Bill Burgess (Stephen Graham), the second man to swim the Channel and her second trainer; and Benji Zammit (Alexander Karim), a fellow swimmer. All of them are likable in their own way. Wolffe, in contrast, might easily convince you that he's a gruff, yet fair trainer. But the nice guy act finally implodes once the film implies him sabotaging Trudy's first Channel swim.

What else can I say about it? The production design by Nora Takacs Ekberg perfectly presents New York and the open ocean as both romantic and down-to-earth. Coney Island exemplifies the former, while Epstein's dilapidated swim class exemplifies the latter. The visual effects and cinematography by Oscar Maura are equally impressive, particularly when Trudy and her guides encounter a massive school of jellyfish. An early shot, where we follow a fire truck to a plot-relevant ferry fire, is quite memorable as well. Amelia Warner's sweeping score actually gets better the more you listen to it. As a tangent, I saw the film with subtitles, but several subtitled lines aren't actually said on-screen. Did they goof, or foreshadow Trudy's worsening hearing? You make the call.

Movies like this are why I find it worth it to keep my Disney Plus subscription. While I would have liked to have seen Young Woman and the Sea on the big screen, it still makes for a fine home matinee. It may be a bit formulaic, but it's still compelling throughout its 129-minutes. Swim over to Disney Plus soon, and you might agree. My next review will see me back to the multiplexes; the only question is, will I like what I see?