The exciting biopic of swimmer Trudy Ederle is a true Disney movie, which heralds something of a thematic return to the House of Mouse. After all, having dreams come true is a repeated part of their overture. And Young Woman and the Sea can be quite the inspiration for women and girls of all ages. Although rote with its telling, the movie is nonetheless triumphantly entertaining and its predictably happy ending is entirely enjoyable.

 

Starring Daisy Ridley and based on the best-selling book Young Woman and the Sea by Glenn Stout, the movie adaptation tells the story of Trudy Ederle, America’s first champion swimmer and the first woman to cross the 21 miles of the English Channel. From her humble beginning as a daughter to German immigrants to her confident rise full of competitive determination, Trudy Ederle’s story is one that needed to be told. And the movie is one that needs to be seen. 

 

Young Woman and the Sea opens with a grisly tragedy. In 1904, a steamboat fire on New York’s East River led to the deaths of over a thousand, mostly women and children, who all perished because they could not swim. The Ederle matriarch, Gertrude (Jeanette Hain) becomes determined that such a catastrophe would not happen to her family and promptly sees to providing her pre-teen daughters swimming lessons. 

 

They take to their lessons like fish in water.

 

Trudy (Ridley), however, has a dogged soul and is soon lapping her older sister, Meg (Tilda Cobham-Hervey). Trudy goes on to win again and again at a competitive level and at a time when women's sports were considered a novelty at best. After bronzing at the Olympics, she opts for a new challenge: to swim across the English Channel. A feat that had only been accomplished a few times. And only by, naturally, men. 

 

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Joachim Rønning, Young Woman and the Sea looks amazing. From the gray English skies and the dark, rolling waves, to the full-on digital recreations of 1920s NYC, the production is completely immersive. Likewise is Ridley in her role. Although her 1.21 gigawatt smile is all Hollywood, her pixie-like figure belies her previous Jedi training. Her rounded shoulders, lanolin-splattered body, and proud chin are all completely believable. She is a (ahem) force. And a wonder to behold.

 

Written by Jeff Nathanson, Trudy wades through the typical gamut of stereotyping and gender inequality. Nathanson’s script is relentless with this theme, too. One would like to think that a full hundred years following the events of this story would have shown significant advancement in human behavior. Alas, with the ongoing political fervor, perhaps we need reminders such as these all the more.  

 

Showing strong women is - and remains - important. And necessary. Trudy’s mother, sister, and swimming coach (Sian Clifford) are affirming, constructive characters. Luckily, Trudy, and the script, presents some positive male influences, too. Although it takes until the third act to make her father (Kim Bodnia) a believer, she finds capable support through fellow swimmers Benji (Alexander Karim) and Bill Burgess (Stephen Graham), who was the first to swim the Channel. Unfortunately her Olympic-coach, the always-wonderful Christopher Eccelston, is reduced to a silly foil with an exaggerated Montgomery Scott accent. Yet Trudy’s goodness continues to float to the top of it all. 

 

Although there is no doubt the outcome, similar to the 2021 Venus Williams biopic King Richard, there is honor in showing the journey. One of the most harrowing scenes in Young Woman and the Sea shows a swarm of jellyfish that Trudy has no choice but to swim through. The water is freezing. She is starving. Every muscle aches. Yet she must continue. And she does. 

 

Victoriously. 

 

Brilliantly. 

 

Justifiably proving her worth - and that of millions of other girls.