Nyad

Tenacity and ego battle old age in the remarkable true-life story of a marathon swimmer.

Against the tide: Annette Bening

Diana Nyad was a marathon swimmer who liked breaking records. Aged 26, she swam around Manhattan island. Aged 30, she swam from the Bahamas to Juno Beach in Florida. But she had a bigger prize in her sights. We are told in this biopic that there are 16 million people who practice open water swimming. We are also told that there are 116 people who have swum for over 24 hours in one go. Of those 116 people, only twelve people in history have managed to swim for more than 48 hours at a stretch. In 2013, Diana Nyad set off from Cuba to Key West in Florida to swim across the largest, fastest body of water in the world, a body of water infested with sharks and jellyfish. She was 64.

In American competitive sport, Diana Nyad is an icon, who took her surname from one of the aliases of her stepfather Aris Notaras, ‘nyad’ conveniently being the Greek for ‘water nymph’. There is some speculation surrounding the achievements of Diana Nyad, with The Guinness Book of World Records refusing to confirm her record-breaking swim across the Straits of Florida. The film itself, marking the ‘non-documentary’ directorial debut of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, also struggles to be credible. When Diana, gamefully realised by Annette Bening, says, “everybody should feel like the star of their own life!”, it feels more like a line than anything that comes out of a real mouth. Diana and her best friend and coach (and former lover) Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster) speak in aphorisms, rather than real dialogue. They bicker, they hug, they motivate each other. Bonnie marvels, “there’s no one more nyad than you,” while Diana says she feels “compelled by the power of the human spirit,” gobbling up the poems of Mary Oliver. She could just as easily have been channelling the verse of Rudyard Kipling: “If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew/To serve your turn long after they are gone…”

‘Truth is, watching someone swim for hours on end is not innately cinematic. Indeed, Nyad can’t seem to make up its mind whether it’s a documentary or a stirring biopic, blending news footage with high acting and surreal imagery, such as when the Taj Mahal emerges beneath the waves as a beacon of hope. Annette Bening gives her all, whether corkscrewing herself across the Caribbean or submitting herself to unflattering makeup effects, particularly after she’s been bitch-slapped by a box jellyfish. Perversely, Jodie Foster looks more suited to the title role, bellowing encouragement from Nyad’s support boat in revealing apparel. And as Nyad swims on, Vasarhelyi and Chin embellish the proceedings with flashbacks from the swimmer’s past along with a sprinkling of hit pop songs. But ultimately it’s a more arduous watch than a rousing one, with a series of false starts lining the drama to diminishing ends. It’s still a remarkable story, albeit one that might serve better as non-fiction. For sure, Vasarhelyi and Chin have made their mark with many a noted documentary, including The Rescue and the Oscar-winning Free Solo.

JAMES CAMERON-WILSON

Cast: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans, Karly Rothenberg, Jeena Yi, Luke Cosgrove, Eric T. Miller, Garland Scott, Anna Harriette Pittman, Marcos Diaz, Erica Cho. 

Dir Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, Pro Andrew Lazar and Teddy Schwarzman, Screenplay Julia Cox, Ph Claudio Miranda, Pro Des Kara Lindstrom, Ed Christopher Tellefsen, Music Alexandre Desplat, Costumes Kelli Jones, Sound Grant Elder, Dialect coach Elizabeth Himelstein. 

Black Bear Pictures/Mad Chance Productions-Netflix.
120 mins. USA. 2023. UK and US Rel: 3 November 2023. Cert. 15.