Young Woman and the Sea: Swimming through Rough and Familiar Waters

Daisy Ridley stars as the accomplished swimmer who was born to immigrant parents in New York City in 1905. Through the steadfast support of her older sister and supportive trainers, she overcame adversity and the animosity of a patriarchal society to rise through the ranks of the Olympic swimming team and complete the staggering achievement — a 21-mile trek from France to England.

REVIEW:

Young Womsn and the Sea is the story of Trudy Eberle who became the first woman to swim the English Channel way back in 1926. Whenever she finds herself in a tight spot she sings to herself the 1921 hit “Ain’t We Got Fun”, to calm herself down and focus her efforts. She is played by Daisy Ridley, who was Rey in The Rise of Skywalker, because the role requires someone with Jedi like concentration and skills.

Eberle was so utterly compelled in her swimming that she put her hearing already damaged by a childhood bout with the measles at risk with her constant immersions. The story goes through the usual victory tropes for movie of this sort: her overcoming the sexism of that time, her ups and downs, her final victory. That’s where Ridley’s Jedi training comes in handy.

It just so well done on every level with top notch production values and competent or better acting. Ridley is, of course, the standout, but every female cast members gives thrilling full-figured performances. The men are more or less two dimensional roles that get their moments. They never over power the empowerment story and keep strictly to their plot assigned lanes. The director, Joachim Ronning delivers the goods, particularly the rousing finale and the properly uplifting coda. I didn’t mind the genre cliches when they popped up. It’s perfect good old fashion inspiring family entertainment.