<PERSON>
Had a somewhat decent time watching this, and then it ended and I thought about it for a bit and like… what did we actually achieve here? I’m not left thinking <PERSON> is a particularly inspiring person because she’s just not very likeable, and the film doesn’t tackle her desire and her dream to complete this swim beyond the fact that she was simply older when she attempted it.
And though they tried their hardest, the film doesn’t convincingly tackle the psychological challenges of the swim, which is what I really wanted more of. And what they did try — weaving in <PERSON>’s child abuse trauma into the swim — felt forced and a little insensitive.
It’s still a relatively well-made film, but the structure is just a bit off, and though it starts strong and is definitely far from boring, the whole thing grew a little stale by the final chunk. And that ending left me feeling nothing, which seems to be entirely not the point! 80