Movie review
May 31, 2024 · 129 min · PG
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The movie tells the true story of Trudy Ederle, a determined young swimmer from a German immigrant family in early 1900s New York. She trains hard with support from her older sister, her mother, and a women’s swimming club, then becomes the first woman to successfully swim the English Channel in 1926 after facing doubt and restrictions from male coaches and sports officials of the era. The film centers on her persistence against those historical gender limits in sports and celebrates the role of female family support and resilience in her success.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Young Woman and the Sea.
Woke representation / casting
Period piece set in 1920s New York and Europe with mostly white actors matching the German immigrant family and historical sports world. Daisy Ridley leads in a story-appropriate role. No audience-visible modern diversity quotas, identity signaling, or mismatches with the setting appear in casting or marketing.
Woke political dialogue
Some scenes and lines explicitly call out 1920s sexist attitudes, with male coaches and officials stating women cannot or should not compete at high levels. Reviews note these barriers are spelled out repeatedly and obviously, though they stay tied to the historical era rather than current politics.
Identity-driven story themes
The core narrative follows Trudy breaking gender barriers in sports through relentless training and support from her sister and female coach. It emphasizes female solidarity, resilience against male skepticism, and proving women can achieve what men have done. Marketing and reviews frame this with girl-power and feminist language.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The film portrays 1920s male-dominated swimming organizations and coaches as dismissive, poorly informed, or actively obstructive to female athletes. It shows traditional expectations around women’s roles as limiting. This stays within the historical sports setting without broader modern institutional attacks.
Woke character or canon changes
The adaptation from the source book includes some dramatized events and added tension, such as amplified opposition from male figures or altered family dynamics. These read as standard biopic choices for emotional stakes rather than ideological or identity-driven rewrites of history or source material.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Reception stayed largely positive or neutral. A handful of online viewers noted heavy-handed feminism or generic Disney girl-power vibes, but no significant or sustained anti-woke complaints treating the film as activist propaganda or DEI messaging appear in coverage or social discussion.
Creator track record context
Main creatives Jeff Nathanson and Joachim Rønning show mainstream, non-activist careers. Daisy Ridley as star and producer has publicly supported women’s marches, spoken about sexism and equal pay in Hollywood, and backed female-empowerment stories, providing a mild liberal-leaning signal that aligns with the film’s historical gender focus.
Production
