A good old-fashioned Disney sports drama, complete with a plucky underdog story, historically accurate social injustices, and a score with more swells than the English Channel, Young Woman and the Sea is a return to form for the studio behind uplifting sports dramas like Remember the Titans and Cool Runnings. Based on the true story of swimmer Trudy Ederle, this triumphant tale of human perseverance takes place in the years following the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in the United States, though it did little to change their daily lot. Despite suffragette efforts for equality, sports remained strictly a man’s game. When Trudy Ederle sets her sights on becoming the first woman to swim across the English Channel, she must battle both the harsh conditions of the sea and the turbulence of a patriarchal system not only standing in her way but actively sabotaging her efforts to succeed.
Directed by Joachim Rønning (no one shoots in the water quite like the Nords) and working from Jeff Nathanson’s sturdy adaptation of Glenn Stout’s 2009 novel Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World, Ederle’s biographical drama swims in familiar waters, using a tried-and-true crowd-pleasing formula to achieve better-than-average returns. Daisy Ridley stars as Trudy Ederle, lending her plucky confidence and determined physicality to the role in one of her best onscreen turns yet.
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Having suffered from a case of measles that nearly took her life as a child, a young Trudy isn’t even allowed in a pool, much less receive any formal training. An overzealous dose of determination and willpower leads her right to the ocean, tied to a rope by her protective, conservative father Henry (Kim Bosnia), where she immediately finds herself comfortable in the water. Her mother Gertrude (Jeanette Hain) sees promise in her and her sister Meg (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), so she enlists them in the only female training classes available, under the tutelage of a tough but fair instructor (Sian Clifford). Powerful but without form, Trudy initially flounders, left to stock the boiler while the others girl received instruction in the 28-beat American Crawl.
As Trudy sharpens her technique, she quickly becomes a major contender in the swimming world, outpacing all her in class and soon winning trophies left and right. But her stern father remains unimpressed, even when Trudy amasses four world records in less than a month. When she’s recruited to join the American swim team for the 1924 Olympic Games, she learns that women’s sports are not only sidelined but also receive very little attention. “Training” consists mainly of dieting to look good in a bathing suit, and “coaching” involves being kept away from the prying eyes of their male counterparts. None are more actively antithetical to Trudy’s success in the water than her “trainer” Jabez Wolffe (Christopher Eccleston), a failed English Channel swimmer determined to see Trudy fail in an effort to halt further investment in women’s sports—and to protect his own fragile ego. Failed by a system designed to oppress her, Trudy turns her sights to the English Channel, 21 miles of treacherous water that only a few men had successfully swam before. Her triumph is given 100:1 odds but the world tunes in to see if the New Jersey young woman swimmer can pull off what so many men could not.
While Trudy’s powerful strokes are aimed at winning medals and becoming the first woman to conquer the English Channel, her true motivation runs much deeper. In her conventional German household, opportunities for women were as scarce as calm seas, confined to the kitchen and household chores. Choice and autonomy were as foreign to her father as his homeland had become, leaving Trudy and her sister Meg to navigate the rough currents of these outdated beliefs. Beneath her own desire to break free from the traditional role of women in society, Trudy swims for her fellow females, hoping to prove through sheer grit and determination that women do have an equal place in sports alongside men.
Rønning proves a capable and steady hand even as Young Woman and the Sea tends towards melodrama and easy sentimentality. Through a winning combination of a solid cast and compelling, easy-to-root-for characters, the film’s runtime breezes by with the fortitude and grace of a champion swimmer. Although Amelia Warner’s score can be overtly sappy, its emotional and pronounced melodies complement this throwback to classic sports dramas: cheesy, yes, but fully aware of its sentimentality and the power that lies within it. While Young Woman and the Sea may not offer groundbreaking innovation, it harmoniously combines its elements to create a stirring and motivational film that serves as a heartfelt reminder of the enduring power of perseverance and the ongoing fight for gender equality.
CONCLUSION: ‘Young Woman and the Sea‘ makes a strong case for the return of the inspirational Disney sports drama. It may play by familiar rules – even for a story about breaking rules and challenging authority – but this classically-mounted throwback ably balances nostalgia with a winning underdog story and sturdy performances.
B
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By: Matt Oakes
Started blogging about film in college when the university paper wouldn’t have him. Dislikes your consensus film Twitter favorites. Devotee of horror movies that make him die a little inside. Catches films at festivals when he can. Proud SFCS and OFCS member and Tomatometer-approved critic. Editor-in-chief of Silver Screen Riot.
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