By Nick Nitkowski

 “Young Woman and the Sea” is a Disney-released movie about the true story of Trudy Ederle, played by Daisy Ridley, who became the first woman to swim the English Channel from France to England in 1926. Other cast members include Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Trudy’s sister Margaret, as well as Stephen Graham, Christopher Eccleston, and Glenn Fleshler.

 This was a movie that I wasn’t sure about watching. Keeping in mind that the only thing I had to go off of was the poster. I hadn’t seen the trailer for the film until very recently and then I thought to myself, “Okay. I’ll give it a shot.” Now that I have done so, I can honestly say that I enjoyed this movie. It’s surprising how many inspirational films I’ve seen over the years and have not felt the least bit inspired. I genuinely felt inspired by this movie. Made me contemplate how my own story is going.

 I thought all of the actors did a great job, especially Daisy Ridley. She’s definitely showing dedication to her craft after her time with Star Wars. It’s good to see that Disney is still giving her acting opportunities because she definitely carries this film. She did a great job personifying a character that you want to see succeed. On top of that, I can only imagine the amount of swimming she had to do for this film. Movies like this require a lot of dedication and training.

 The movie was also very well-paced and managed to hold my attention the whole way through, which is very important for a movie like this. It even had a few good moments of comedy that genuinely made me laugh. I felt that all of the elements blended in well together. What’s more, is that I thought they did a great job of capturing the 1920’s. Everything from the set design to the wardrobe felt very spot on.

 Now in the title card, I wrote that it may not find its audience and unfortunately, I find this to be true. I saw this film during the Memorial Day weekend when it was available for the public to watch. It was also a charitable screening, which means proceeds went to USA Swimming. I expected it to be full, but it was practically empty. I had a whole row to myself in the theater. I fear that with the current decline in theater attendance, this movie will most likely suffer at the box office, which is a real shame because it is a good movie. I can only hope that word of mouth can convince audiences to give it a fair shot.

 Overall, this inspirational film upheld the title of “inspirational.” I really enjoyed the performances from everyone involved and I thought it did a great job of capturing the period it’s based in. And I can easily say that I left the theater feeling good. It’s definitely worth taking a look at this weekend.

4/5 stars