Mother Nature is the foe in this inspiring sports biopic, in which retired open water swimmer Diana Nyad defies the odds in her attempts to become the first person to complete the ‘Mount Everest of swims’…

Screenwriter: Julia Cox

Directors: Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Script source: Deadline

Based on: Find a Way by Diana Nyad

Summary:

At the age of 60, sports broadcaster and retired professional swimmer Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) decides to return to the water in a bid to become the first person to complete the 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Key West without a shark cage – a challenge known as the ‘Mount Everest of swims’. With the help of long-time friend Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster), Nyad embarks on a multi-year journey to achieve the goal she was unable to attain as a younger woman.

Review:

*Spoilers* Nyad is the latest in the line of “against the odds” sports biopics. Working in the film’s favour is a committed central performance by Bening and a lovely supporting turn by Foster as Diana’s devoted friend Bonnie, who becomes her tireless supporter and coach.

A short opening sequence shows us (the real) Diana as a younger woman, conquering the open water swimming world but falling short when it came to the Cuba-Florida test. This effectively sets up her character before we meet her decades later: turning 60, long-retired from swimming and having built a successful career as a broadcaster, but with a lingering desire to complete the 110-mile swim which alluded her in her prime. By the time she dons the swimsuit, we know she has the skills and focus to succeed but we also appreciate the scale of her challenge.

Once Diana has committed to the swim and Bonnie has signed on, the real preparations begin. Along the way, she recruits a loyal crew, including seasoned maritime expert John Bartlett (Rhys Ifans), who is always ready with a philosophical quip or a dire warning about the conditions at sea. The kinship which develops between Bartlett and Bonnie is a nice touch.

The scenes of Diana in training for her swim(s) are effective and there are enough setbacks along the way to keep us interested. The fact that the weather and tidal conditions only give Diana a short opportunity each year to complete the swim adds a ticking clock to the action. In reality, the swim took four years to complete, following several aborted attempts.

During Act Two, the action does get a little repetitive, with scenes of Diana ploughing on though the harsh conditions of the Florida Straits. However, this is partly the point, as we see first-hand just what it takes to complete the Mount Everest of swims. As attempt after attempt fails, the story gets a little bogged down, as Diana regroups, gets the team back together and tries again. The writer does a good job in making each of these attempts harder than the next, especially when the jellyfish make an appearance, and by mixing things up, such as the eerie night swimming and the mental toll the arduous swim takes on Diana.

On the negative side, Diana is quite a hard character to root for. Undoubtedly determined and possessing an inner drive and strength which most people lack, she is also flinty and self-absorbed, seemingly oblivious to the sacrifices those around her are making and the strain her efforts to complete the swim are putting on others, especially Bonnie. Even when Bonnie finally puts her foot down, balking at Diana’s desire to make yet another attempt, it’s a short-lived fight which is only ever going to be resolved in one way. In fact, the whole team coalesces around Diana as her quest drags on, with Bartlett, in particular, giving up what turns out to be precious time to her endeavour.

Brief flashbacks to Diana’s childhood do add depth to her character, as we see things with her jovial school swimming coach take a dark turn. While this aspect is not fully explored, it does serve to explain Diana’s controlling nature and her need to put up an emotional wall. That her cage-free swim leaves her vulnerable makes a nice contrast.

Overall, while the film is – ironically – a little shallow, as an inspiring sports biopic, it ticks all the boxes. It gives us a strong and single-minded protagonist, who beat the odds to achieve her goal, with the help of a devoted friend and coach. Indeed, it is this friendship which anchors the film, providing warmth and heart; something sorely needed in this tale of a determined swimmer who had no intention of giving up on her dream of conquering her watery Everest.

Writer’s takeaway:

A compelling antagonist is an important screenwriting element, giving the protagonist a worthy and multidimensional adversary. Nyad provides a reminder that the antagonist does not have to take human form. Diana’s foe is the ocean, which writer Cox calls the “mother of all antagonists“.

Man (or woman) vs. nature can provide a compelling and exciting narrative. However, just as it is important to develop a complex human antagonist, it is crucial to explore Mother Nature’s potential and the full extent of the risk it presents to the protagonist (which usually include death).

Indeed, in Nyad, we see just many how challenges the ocean poses, from the creatures it harbours and its strong currents to the unforgiving weather conditions. Of course, it also includes the extreme mental and physical demands which swimming the daunting 110-mile stretch of the Florida Straits places on the protagonist as she fights to achieve her dream.

Go further…

Watch the trailer:

Here are a few more more fact-based films in which Mother Nature fills the role of antagonist:

• The Perfect Storm (2000): Fishermen get caught up in the mother of all storms.
• Jungle (2017): The Amazon rainforest is the foe facing backpacker Yossi Ghinsberg.
• Everest (2015): A group of climbers gets into trouble trying to scale Mount Everest.
• 127 Hours (2010): A climber must take drastic action when he gets trapped in a canyon.
• Wild (2014): A woman in turmoil tests herself by hiking the 1,100-mile Pacific Crest Trail.
• The Revenant (2015): A fictionalised revenge tale about real-life frontiersman Hugh Glass.