You may enjoy swimming, but not as much as celebrated long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, the subject of a new biopic heading our way. The appropriately-named Nyad (a naiad is a type of Greek water spirit, more or less) was setting records well into her 60s, which makes our feeble morning laps at the local pool look a bit sad by comparison.
How to watch Nyad in New Zealand
Nyad is streaming in New Zealand exclusively on Netflix from November 3.
Nyad
What is Nyad about?
Using her 2013 attempt—at the age of 64, no less—to swim from Cuba to Florida as both a climax and framing device, the film tracks Nyad’s life from her early abusive childhood through her entire swimming career, grappling with issues of age, gender, and sexuality along the way. It’s worth noting that this is the first non-documentary feature from husband and wife filmmaking team Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, who copped an Oscar for 2018’s dizzying and terrifying Free Solo. If they can bring a tenth of that film’s power to bear here, we’re looking pretty good.
The cast of Nyad
Annette Bening is in fantastic form as Nyad, with Jodie Foster on board as her coach and bestie Bonnie Stoll, plus the ever-reliable Rhys Ifans as boat captain John Bartlett.
Nyad trailer
What are the critics saying about Nyad?
All up, the critical response has been broadly but softly positive. In the shell of a nut, Nyad seems to tick all the right boxes for a standard issue stirring sports biopic, and boasts excellent performances from its two leads (muted Oscar buzz has already begun), but the film’s refusal to address Nyad’s noted tendency to exaggerate her own accomplishments has been flagged as a problem. Given that there’s still controversy over whether her 106 mile Cuba to Florida swim actually counts, that’s a missed opportunity. Still, it’s great to see Bening still making a splash at this stage of her career.
