Nyad (2023): Never Ever Give Up on Your Dream
Nyad (2023): Never Ever Give Up on Your Dream
“Imagine knowing in your bones that you could do something that only you could do, like fate.”
Nyad (2023) — currently available on Netflix — is a biopic about the Olympic swimmer Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) who set out to swim over 100 miles from Cuba to Florida in a single stretch. It’s an uplifting movie for anyone who thinks they’re too old to pursue their dreams, thinks their dreams are too absurd to realize, or believes they have a destiny to fulfill and cannot accept defeat.
My favorite scene in the movie is when Diana reaches the shoreline of Florida on her fifth, final attempt after swimming 110 miles over the course of 52 hours and 54 minutes. When she stumbles deliriously upon Key West, she musters her final strokes of energy to share three profound bits of wisdom with hundreds of cheering reporters and fans (1:50:27).
“I just wanna say three things. One: never ever give up. Two: you’re never too old to chase your dreams. And three: it looks like a solitary sport but it takes a team.” - Diana Nyad
Other people have shared similar wisdom but Diana’s is made profound through action. Over the course of 35 years — from her first attempt in 1978 to her fifth, successful attempt in 2013 — she embodied her messages of perseverance and active aging. And when embracing her beloved coach Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster) on the shoreline, it’s clear that Diana understands that she could not have done this alone.
In addition to never giving up no matter how old you are, Nyad (2023) teaches us that we need other good people alongside us to achieve our wildest dreams. When Bonnie and the esteemed Gulf Stream navigator John Bartlett (Rhys Ifans) sicken of Diana’s superiority complex (1:13:19) after the fourth failed attempt, Diana tries training with strangers. It quickly becomes evident that there’s no hope of realizing her destiny without the support of her friends. Only after surrendering greenlight control to John and caring about Bonnie’s feelings as much as her own (1:26:24) is she able to reunite the company she needs to successfully cross the Gulf.
I love this movie for several reasons. 1) I think it’s Annette Bening’s best performance of her career. 2) Jodie Foster won my heart this year when I watched Contact (1997) for the first time. It was a pleasure to watch her again in this. And 3) The movie resurfaced a real-word feat that seems so impossible that, ironically, it was overlooked or forgotten after the new broke in 2013. To me, this is news of the decade — not just a quick story to cover at the end of the nightly news. It’s surprising that so few people know or remember that this happened, including myself.
Fun Fact: This is the first non-documentary from the married director duo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin who co-directed popular documentaries such as Meru (2015), Free Solo (2018), and Return to Space (2022). They did a great job conveying something that I suppose is intimately close to the felt truth of Diana, Bonnie, John, and the others involved in the real story through dramatization with professional actors. Documentaries are important but it’s often difficult for me to feel as close to the action as the non-actors being documented. The only exception to this is The Alpinist (2021). That’s the only documentary I’ve watched and felt as emotional as I have when watching a feature drama.
To connect with the spirit of Nyad (2023) and support its creators, consider buying a Netflix subscription if you don’t already have one. Also check out the additional materials below.