OSCARS 2024: Nyad (2023)

In 2015, husband and wife filmmaking team Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin made “Meru,” a documentary about Chin and two other men climbing an especially perilous peak in the Indian Himalayas. In 2018, the same duo made “Free Solo,” about Alex Honnold's free-climbing of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. The break-out documentary hit of the year, “Free Solo” would go on to win the Best Documentary Feature award at the Oscars. Vasarhelyi and Chin have made a few other documentaries since then but 2023 would see them handling their first narrative feature. And it followed a subject not too similar to their hit docs. “Nyad” is about Diana Nyad, the swimmer who came to fame in the seventies for her numerous long distance swims. It's not surprising that this filmmaking duo would be drawn to Nyad's most arduous task – swimming from Cuba to Florida, while in her sixties – as another display of the human body and its ability to perform stunning acts of stamina. The resulting film unsurprisingly captured the Academy's attention, receiving two nominations in the acting categories. 

In 1980, long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad first attempted the 110-mile, continuous swim from Cuba to Florida. She did not compete the task. Even though Nyad remains a point of inspiration for athletes all over the world, that she has left this journey incomplete vexes her still. At the age of sixty, she decides to try again. Her life-long friend, Bonnie Stoll, acts as her couch. A surly navigator by the name of John Bartlett is recruited to steer the boat. Nyad does everything she can to prepare but still she fails her mission. A month later, she tries again, this attempt cut short when she nearly dies from a jellyfish sting. This is the second of five attempts by Nyad to complete the swim, growing more desperate and determined with each failure. All the while, her body, mind, and the commitment of her friends will be pushed to their absolute limits. 

Diana Nyad's story is about as cinematic as a true story can get. Her last name literally being pronounced the same as the water nymphs of Greek mythology is the kind of detail you'd expect a screenwriter to invent. Her achievements are seemingly superhuman, the kind of record-breaking tasks that seem impossible. A swim through open ocean is full of dangers, from out-of-control tides, to sharks, to how to pull off practical necessities like eating, drinking, or using the bathroom. More than anything else, what makes Diana Nyad's story so well suited to the movie screen was her undying determination. To attempt something like this once is daunting. To try over and over again, despite nearly dying every time, is the kind of improbable resoluteness you typically find in fictional characters, not real people. In other words, Diana Nyad's story was tailor-made for a movie. 

Probably the biggest challenge facing filmmakers bringing Nyad's story tot he screen is that... Swimming for a really long time is maybe not the most exciting action to watch. It's a journey fraught with danger. I can't even begin to imagine how Diana pushed her body and her mind through a mission like this. Yet someone swimming in a straight line probably wouldn't make much of a movie otherwise. In order to make “Nyad” as cinematic as possible, the filmmakers delve right into Diana's mind. When she begins to hallucinate, deep into the swim, we are greeted to those visuals. Her memories come to life around her: Her difficult childhood with her irresponsible father, sexual abuse at the hands of her swim coach, her struggles as a young gay woman. From there, Vasarhelyi, Chin, and cinematographer Claduio Miranda do everything they can to make this journey look at memorable as possible. Deep reds, blues, and purples glow through crashing waves as Nyad swims on and on. 

The script is sturdy and the film looks good. What makes “Nyad” really worth watching, however, are the lead performances. Annette Bening plays Diana as irrepressible. After nearly dying of a jellyfish sting, while recovering in the hospital, she's already talking to an expert about what to do the next time. After being fished out of the water, almost dead, she's still trying to swim. Bening allows for Diana to have an ego, which gets her in trouble. She's a proud and stubborn woman. Yet her unkillable spirit is too inspiring not to love a little bit, making full use of Bening's ability as an actress. Jodie Foster is ideally cast as Bonnie, an ever-true friend that challenges her partner but never gives up on her. Every time Foster gets an inspiring speech or an impassionate monologue, she makes it sing. That's what you hire Jodie Foster for. Rhys Ifans is also nicely crochety as literally a weathered old sea captain.

“Nyad” is the kind of Oscar-nominee that's not likely to be remembered in a few years. The fact that it was a Netflix production, designed to play in theaters for a single week before being buried on a streaming service forever, isn't going to help. I'm not sure I'm going to remember much about after the ceremony wraps. The movie does nothing to reinvent the biopic formula. However, the performances are strong and the movie is steadily assembled. Sometimes, all you need is an extraordinary story brought to life by competent talent. I foresee this becoming a favorite among moms all over. [7/10]