THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Every now and then, we gotta remember the only ones who set our own limits are ourselves and I remembered this upon watching Netflix’s NYAD.
PLOT
Based on the memoir Find a Way, the film follows Diana Nyad who was famous for breaking records as a long distance swimmer. In 1978, she was unable to complete a personal effort to swim from Cuba to Florida in a total amount of 110 miles. In 2010, now in her 60s, she vows to finish what she started. Within her training, she would have her best friend Bonnie Stoll to be her trainer and navigator John Bartlett to accompany her on the swim. In her first attempt in swimming the Florida Straits in August 2011, she would make the decision of swimming with a shark shield instead of a shark cage. While she avoided sharks for the most part, unfavorable ocean currents would cause her to return early. She would try again a month later, only to get sever stings from box jellyfish. When recovering from the injury, she still vows to try again. In another training process, she would be consulted by a jellyfish expert to wear a protective suit should she encounter more jellyfish. And during said training, she would recount her childhood where she was abused by her own swimming coach Jack Nelson. The following attempt would backfire when John’s boat gets flooded due to a thunderstorm. Even when that makes Diana go back to land, she still refuses defeat. On land, Bonnie would admit of her frustration to putting up with her self centered-ness to succeed and putting her life aside for her. With this argument leading her to quit, Diana would eventually make amends with her and John for being difficult to deal with. Bonnie would also share with her the recent passing of Nelson, which doesn’t satisfy since so many women spoke up against him and he remained in the Swimming Hall of Fame. Knowing how much the swim means to Diana, Bonnie agrees to train her one last time. Despite expressing financial concern, John agrees to navigate as he is ill and wants to see she can do. Diana’s last attempt would occur in 8/31/13 and has favorable currents at his side. When the shark shield doesn’t work at one point, the rest of the crew would jump in the water to ward off a shark. When she gets exhausted and starts hallucinating, Bonnie would jump in the water to implore one last push. Nyad would reach Key West by 9/2/13 with spectators gathered to watch her succeed which she does by the time she ascends onto the beach (The entire trip within her last attempt would be a timed 52 hours and 44 minutes). The film would end in an epilogue revealing forty other people unrelated to her crew, would accompany her on their own boats to witness her accomplishment. Diana and Bonnie would still see each other to this day, but John would pass away on 12/10/13.
THOUGHTS
I do remember seeing the news of Diana Nyad making such a historical record to the sport of long distance swimming, but I didn’t put much thought into what was done to accomplish the feat. This film was a good way to express exact lengths that were done to get there. Directors Jimmy Chin & Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi are able to share an impressive story on how far one will go to prove themselves more than others they can do what sounds/feels impossible as long as you set your mind to it. Long distance swimming is a whole other world of sports because the lengths you must put your body through to reach/surpass limits you didn’t know you had. Every time I heard Alexandre Desplat’s score moved me in all the right ways to show what an insane journey it can be to make a personal accomplishment. And I was impressed on how sharp Christopher Tellefsen edited the swimming montages, giving an intense vibe as it enhances the feeling on how difficult the process is for the goal to be made. All of this helps make the theme go full circle on how you have to know your limits for your own sake, which means listen to your body more than often. And always appreciate the company of those who support you because you’re not the only one who has aspirations. This is what I understood when watching the invincible chemistry from Annette Benning & Jodie Foster as Nyad & Bonnie respectively. Benning showed the former as one who has all the drive to be an unstoppable force of an athlete. She proves to be such because she kept trying to succeed until she finally did. The problem was that everything that was bothering her mentally caused her to push away those who cared for her. It was indeed saddening to know she was sexually abused as a teen by her own coach, but you add it with her own identity crisis because the father she had, land developer Aristotle Nyad, who pushed her to be the best before her coach, was not her biological one after all; The name Nyad means to be a deity of water and knowing the truth made her question her own identity. And as we saw, she proved it with every time she chose to swim. Again, she doesn’t get to so far without the people she had by her side. Foster was great as Bonnie for being the moral compass Diana needed, reminding her she is still human and can’t ignore the consequences of swimming into danger. Since they used to date, it’s clear it didn’t last because Diana never listened to her when she should’ve. The friendship was still intact because they still respected the paths they took. But the love was still there because Nyad was giving unexpected towards Bonnie, thus staying by her side until the goal had been reached. Bonnie never got into the water as the movie depicts, but that scene represents how much she cared for her and wasn’t gonna let her give up when being so close. You also can’t forget of the man who led the way for success to become reality. Rhys Ifans was great as John because even though he didn’t know Nyad the way Bonnie did, but knew how much it meant to her thus being her navigator. However, he still thought realistically and knew exactly when to stop. Had he not said anything, I don’t think Bonnie would’ve followed through like she would in stopping Nyad. He still gave the latter the one last chance that paid off before he passed from his illness weeks later because he respected her so much at that point and had to see how far she would go and thankfully, all the work that was done paid off for everyone. In short, NYAD is a fantastic sports biopic for hitting the marks on inspiring people to not give up on what you want to do for yourself. If you have Netflix and love sports films, check this out when you can.
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