As they’re both based on real-life swimmers, I couldn’t help but immediately think of last year’s Nyad while watching Disney’s Young Woman and the Sea. But while the former is a film I did not enjoy because it lacked a personal slant, Young Woman and the Sea, directed by Joachim Rønning from a screenplay by Jeff Nathanson, effectively infuses heart and connection into its story. It’s what instantly elevates it from being a by-the-numbers true story adaptation, based on the book Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World by Glenn Stout.

Young Woman And The Sea Is A Grounded Story

Trudy Ederle (Daisy Ridley) managed to survive the measles as a child, so nothing much fazes her as an adult. Despite her father’s (Kim Bodnia) attempts to keep to tradition (and maintain a sexist status quo), Trudy’s mother (Jeannette Hain) encourages her and older sister Margaret (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) to take swimming lessons after hearing about several women who burned to death on a boat because they couldn’t swim to safety. Young Woman and the Sea boasts everything we’ve come to expect from a true story film, but it avoids outright sensationalism for a grounded tale that speaks to the heart.

Young Woman and the Sea doesn’t lose sight of its main story, which sees Trudy attempting to swim across the English Channel in 1926, but it also knows when to add in humor. Life, after all, isn’t serious all the time and this film remembers that. Hain is especially good at speaking with her eyes and her moments are filled with a lightheartedness even as she worries about her daughter’s survival. What ultimately keeps the film afloat is Trudy’s relationship with her sister Margaret, and the story juxtaposes their circumstances in ways that elevate Trudy’s swimming attempts.

Whereas Margaret feels like she can’t escape her life and the marriage her father arranges, Trudy envisions a different future for herself. She had the bravery to do so, perhaps because no one expected the same from her as her sister. Despite the fact that they end up leading different lives, the sisters’ relationship is compelling and heartwarming. You really grasp what they mean to each other, and it keeps Young Woman and the Sea focused while wearing its heart on its sleeve. The closeness of the sisters is one of the biggest strengths of the film.

Young Woman And The Sea Has A Great Cast

Led by Daisy Ridley, who elevates the material

Rønning’s film is sincere; it’s not forcing us to feel something as the story unfolds. We do feel, though, thanks to the writing and the actors’ performances. Ridley continues to take on intriguing and challenging projects in her post-Star Wars life. Young Woman and the Sea doesn’t give her too much to work with, but she embodies the physicality of the role. In the quieter moments, Ridley’s Trudy observes the world around her, as though taking it in so she can then use it as fuel for her biggest swimming challenge. The actress is versatile, bringing the emotion when needed.

Bodnia and Hain are especially good, with the latter portraying so much with her facial expressions. Christopher Eccleston is quietly disconcerting as Mr. Wolffe, a man who failed to cross the English Channel and whose resentment while working with Trudy is quite clear. Every member of the principal cast, including the charismatic Alexander Karim as Trudy’s friend and fellow swimmer, puts in a memorable performance. They, along with Ridley, elevate the film. The score by Amelia Warner is also fantastic, underscoring every heartbreak and triumph in Trudy’s life.

The film keeps things simple, but it shines like a lighthouse in the darkness nonetheless. There are aspects of the swimming itself that aren’t always clear, but the filmmakers understand that they’re also not the most fascinating parts of the story. Young Woman and the Sea may follow the chronological order of events in Trudy’s life, but it avoids treating her story as an expository exercise. She is portrayed as a fully formed person, and though there are moments that are heightened so that we more deeply feel the impact of her triumph, it doesn’t distract from the core story.