…………………………………………………

Young Woman and the Sea Movie Review

Young Woman and the Sea is a 2024 biographical drama film directed by Joachim Ronning and starring Daisy Ridley. It’s a surprisingly charming and engaging biopic.

………………………………………………….

“If Meg swims, I swim!“

…………………………………………………..

This is the story of competitive swimmer Gertrude Ederle, who was the first woman to ever swim across the English Channel back in 1926. I am usually not into these kinds of sports biographical stories, but this one took me by surprise. It’s a Disney-produced movie, so it has that Disneyfied, too innocent and family-friendly element to it, but for the most part this proved to be endearing instead of annoying. This is because it’s populated by genuinely likable personalities and a very well crafted, though familiar narrative.

Daisy Ridley is excellent as Trudy Ederle. This is a young actress who’s until recently been defined by her work in the Star Wars franchise, but this is the year when she proved to the world that she got the genuine acting chops to star in dramas. She was very interesting and different in ‘Sometimes I Think About Dying’ and she was wonderful here as well. Though physically not believable of course as she’s too thin, she excelled in emotion and conviction.

The other actors are not as well-known as Ridley, but they all did a very good job. I loved the sister character and the parents were so memorable. The mother was so kind and loving while the father was archetypal, but also quite comedic in his initial sexist remarks. The movie went out of its way to make a feminist message to inspire young girls, so it wasn’t really subtle, but it could have been much worse overall.

…………………………………………………..

Young Woman and the Sea is technically only okay. The cinematography and directing are mostly forgettable and the overall production and costume design are just serviceable. The one area where the movie truly excelled is the score – it’s effectively rousing and epic. The story is safe and predictable. It’s also too modern in its dialogue. But it oozes that classic movie charm that made it so universally appealing.