Daisy Ridley showed what a great actress she is in Sometimes I Think About Dying recently, and she now has another release, The Young Woman and the Sea. She plays Gertrude Ederle, an American competitive swimmer who became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. It is directed by Joachim Rønning and written by Jeff Nathanson, based on the 2009 book of the same name by Glenn Stout, with a lot of liberties taken with the real story.
Ridley gives another stand out, and very different performance, expertly capturing the force of nature that Ederle must have been. There are good supporting performances from Stephen Graham as a fellow swimmer, Christopher Ecclestone as the coach forced on her by the disapproving authorities, Sian Clifford as her real coach and Tilda Cobham-Hervey as her sister.
Produced by Disney, there are no real surprises in the storyline, and it is efficiently enough made. But as she battles inequality, it is impossible not to root for the brave swimmer and the ending is uplifting.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10