Nyad (15)

Dir: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

Cast: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans

Annette Bening and Jodie Foster have undeniable chemistry in this inspirational but safe biographical sports drama

Back in 2018, married couple and documentarians, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, rose to prominence thanks to the success of their heart-pounding documentary Free Solo. In the documentary, the couple came across a formidable character in mountain climber, Alex Honnold. The now world famous free-climber had very little regard for his own morality or for the emotional damage that may be inflicted upon those close to him if the unthinkable was to happen. It was a gripping yet terrifying film, as you quiver at the hair-raising sight of Honnold hanging from the edge of the 2000ft tall El Capitan.

The pair were able to capture every moment of Honnold’s record breaking climb, despite the logistical nightmare of filming an unassisted climber who could fall to his death at any moment. A large part of this was thanks to Chin’s own history of mountain climbing himself, which enabled him and his cinematographer’s to get as close to Alex as possible for each spine-tingling leap.

The film would go onto secure the couple an Academy Award for Documentary Feature, and to this day Free Solo remains the only documentary I have ever sought out on the big screen, due to filmmakers’ ability to turn a documentary into an immersive, cinematic experience.

The pair would go on to follow this up with yet another heart-in-mouth documentary, with The Rescue in 2021. The Rescue retold the heroic story of the Tham Luang cave rescue expedition in 2018, which saw a junior Thai football team saved from an underwater cave system. Like ‘Free Solo‘, ‘The Rescue‘ played with your emotions as a viewer, despite the outcome being heavily documented in the three years that had surpassed between the event and the documentary’s release. It came as no surprise to me that Vasarhelyi and Chin’s first narrative feature film would be a biopic of Diane Nyad, and her inspirational achievement of swimming from Cuba to Florida at the age of 64.

Stepping into narrative feature films, finds the documentarians in uncharted territory, as it enables them to have complete directorial control for the first time. The choice of project is a logical one however, much like ‘their previous works, ‘Nyad‘ is a tale of a daring endeavour, and a true testament to the great levels of achievement we as humans are capable of.

Diane Nyad (Annette Bening) is on the brink of turning sixty and is understandably reserved about the celebrating the milestone as she insists that her best friend, Bonnie (Jodie Foster), does not throw her a party. Now in her latter years, Diane hits a slump, and begins to watch old recordings of her glory days as a long distance swimmer, breaking records and boundaries as she inspired a generation of younger female athletes and fellow members of the LGBT community. Diane’s greatest dream that was never realised in her youth, is to swim the 103-mile journey from Cuba to Florida, tackling the formidable elements of the Gulf of Mexico.

Diane tried and failed when she was at her physical peak but now in her sixties, with spiralling fears of her own morality and mediocrity, she decides to dive back in the pool again after thirty years of retirement. This first swim reawakens a fire within Diane, something she has been yearning for years. This new lease of life results in Diane making the incredible decision to take on the challenge that bested her decades prior. The media and those close to her, including Bonnie, see it as an impossible feat, due to the wild currents and dangerous wildlife that occupy the gulf. After some convincing, Bonnie not only supports her best friend in her endeavour, but also takes on the role of her coach as she sets out do pursue her life long dream and finally reach emotional fulfilment.

I was not familiar with this remarkable true story until the film was announced by Netflix in the past year, and there is no questioning that the levels of determination and physical prowess Diane Nyad managed to achieve when attempting this feat is nothing short of miraculous. Like with Alex Honnold, Vasarhelyi and Chin have found an unhinged but likeable real life character in Diane Nyad for their narrative to revolve around and for us as the viewer to emotional attach ourselves to. It is this central relationship between Diane and Bonnie that holds the film together, thanks in part to some strong dramatic writing, but it is mostly down to the excellent on screen chemistry between Bening and Foster.

Despite the film focusing on such an extreme sport of long distance swimming, it is the scenes out of the water where the film really shines. This is where we get to see Bening and Foster bounce off each other with a natural ease, as two aging gay women who are willing to support each other despite the possible financial and emotional damage it may cause. This is a relationship that is rarely seen in cinema, as the sexuality of the two leads is only sporadically brought up, as the film purely focuses on their friendship and not their sexuality. The interplay between the two, devoid of any ‘Hollywood’ romance, is a breath of fresh air and even when Diane’s superiority complex gets the best of her, you never question the pair’s friendship.

It may not seem it on the surface, but Nyad is undoubtedly a sports movie of the most American traditions. It features all the common tropes: the underdog, the comeback and of course, the feel-good ending. These tropes are further emphasized with are a series of flashbacks to Diane’s youth, along with snippets of real life news footage of Diane in her prime. This is where we start to see the directors’ documentarian history start to break through and I do think this is a detriment to the film’s dramatic narrative. The use of extensive cuts between archive footage and narrative feature abruptly reminded us that these are real people, and the ones we have started to form an emotional bond to on screen are simply ‘characters’.

It would have been difficult for Vasarhelyi and Chin to leave their documentary roots behind them, and the film is at its best when they do. I believe this is a step in the right direction for the husband and wife team if they are to go on to make more narrative features in the future, and this will no doubt have served as a learning curve on their journey to becoming prominent filmmakers outside of documentaries. Unfortunately, despite its uniquely inspirational story, ‘Nyad‘ plays out like the many sports biopics that have come before it, and aside from the fantastic female co-leads, fails to stand on its own.

Nyad is now available to stream on Netflix