NYAD

Name: NYAD
Item: NYAD
Author: Review

"She Got By with a Little Help from Her Friends"

Content: -3 Excessive sex, violence, immorality, and/or worldview problems. (Sometimes excessive content such as violence is in otherwise redemptive movies.)

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** She Got By with a Little Help from Her Friends **

Title: NYAD

Quality: * * * * Acceptability: -3

SUBTITLES: None

WARNING CODES:

Language: LLL

Violence: V

Sex: S

Nudity: N

RATING: PG-13

RELEASE: October 20, 2023

TIME: 121 minutes

STARRING: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans, Ethan Jones Romero, Luke Cosgrove, Jeena Yi, Eric T. Miller

DIRECTORS: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

PRODUCERS: Andrew Lazar, Teddy Schwarzman

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Julia Cox, Michael Heimler, Vanessa Humphrey, Bill Johnson, D. Scott Lumpkin, Jim Seibel

WRITER: Julia Cox

BASED ON THE BOOK “FIND A WAY” BY: Diana Nyad

DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix

GENRE: Drama/Sports Drama

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Teenagers and adults

REVIEW: Diana Nyad is the greatest female marathon swimmer in history, having set a vast array of records, including numerous swims across the English Channel and other world landmarks. However, her biggest dream was swimming unaided for the entire 103-mile distance from Cuba to the Florida Keys. That incredible, inspired quest is depicted in the superbly-made movie NYAD. The movie, however, mentions the fact that Diana considers herself a lesbian, receives support from the homosexual community and was abused by her male swim coach in high school. It also has 31 or so obscenities and profanities, including two strong profanities and one “f” word.

NYAD stars the powerhouse acting combo of four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening as Diana and two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster as her lifelong best friend Bonnie. The storyline blends the never-gonna-quit spirit of ROCKY with surprisingly meditative stretches while Nyad is swimming far out in the ocean.

The movie opens in 2010, with Diana worrying about turning 60 and wondering if she’s too old to achieve the Cuba-Florida Keys swim. She has tried and failed four previous times, starting all the way back at AGE 25. Meanwhile, Bonnie encourages Diana to rest on her considerable laurels and retire.

However, Diana’s gut tells her it’s worth one last try, at all costs physically, emotionally and financially. She convinces Bonnie and their navigator friend, John (Rhys Ifans in a wonderful

supporting turn) to join her. First, Diana must both turn her body into a perfectly-tuned machine and fight back flashbacks of the (unseen) sexual abuse she and Bonnie suffered as girls at the hands of their male swim coach in high school.

The world knows she pulls it off, but Julia Cox’s stirring script and the impressive direction of Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasrhelyi keep viewers riveted from start to finish. They lay out early the dangers Diana will face on a 60-mile oceans swim, including shark and jellyfish attacks and mental and physical exhaustion. They do a great job depicting these challenges without needing to sink tons of money into action footage.

What’s left to the viewers’ imagination is somehow scarier, especially during nighttime scenes where Diana herself can’t see what’s happening around her. However, there are also beautiful moments of swimming in vast blue waters and some richly depicted hallucinations that Diana’s exhausted mind creates while she swims.

Diana and her friend, Bonnie, are both lesbians. Diana has said elsewhere they only dated very briefly while young and quickly found that an intimate relationship between them didn’t work, but they remained best friends. The movie doesn’t harp on their lesbian activities as adults. It mentions their sexuality matter-of-factly in two or three brief moments.

NYAD the movie also has a slightly excessive amount of foul language, including at least one “f” word and three strong profanities (see MOVIEGUIDE®’s Content section). Also, there are some flashbacks about the alleged abuse Diana and her friend suffered from their male swim coach in high school. The filmmakers shoot these flashbacks in a discreet manner.

NYAD depicts an amazing true-life story. It shows an impressive appreciation of overcoming struggles, strength of character, and the determination and friendship it takes to overcome great challenges to achieve hard-won dreams. The movie also acknowledges all the hard work Diana Nyad did to prepare for her marathon swim.

That said, although NYAD downplays the homosexuality of the two lead female characters, it does lightly promote it. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution and thinks NYAD is ultimately excessive and unacceptable.

Please send your thanks or concerns, and copy us, to:

Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, Co-CEOs, and Reed Hastings, Chairman, Netflix

100 Winchester Circle

Los Gatos, CA 95032

Phone: (408) 540-3700 Website: www.netflix.com; Email: info@netflix.com

SUMMARY: NYAD is a movie about marathon swimmer Diana Nyad and her biggest dream of swimming unaided the entire 103-mile distance from Cuba to the Florida Keys. NYAD is superbly filmed and acted depiction of that incredible feat, which was accomplished with support from her closest friends, but the movie mentions that Diana is a lesbian, was abused by her male

swim coach in high school, and has 31 or so obscenities and profanities, including at least three strong profanities and one “f” word.

IN BRIEF

NYAD is a dramatic account of marathon swimmer Diana Nyad’s treacherous swim from Cuba to Florida, at age 64. Diana tried and failed four previous times, but in 2013, she decides to try again, with help from her longtime best friend, Bonnie Stoll. Annette Benning plays Diana, and Jodie Foster plays Bonnie. Rhys Ifans so-stars as John, their navigator friend.

NYAD’s stirring script, impressive direction and excellent performances keep viewers riveted. It tells an amazing story about friendship, determination and hard work. The movie lays out early the dangers Diana will face and does a great job depicting those challenges. What’s left to the viewer’s imagination is somehow scarier, especially at night where Diana can’t see what’s happening. The movie also richly depicts beautiful moments of swimming in vast blue waters, plus some of Diana’s hallucinations. NYAD mentions that Diana and her friend, Bonnie, are lesbians, but never lovers. Also, the movie doesn’t focus on their lesbian behavior. However, NYAD does have slightly excessive foul language and references to the alleged abuse Diana and Bonnie suffered from their male high school swim coach.

Content:

(BB, HoHo, LLL, V, S, N, A, DD, M)

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong moral worldview overall about hard work and friendship overcoming obstacles, including the title character’s prickly narcissistic personality, and the movie spotlights the incredible hard work ethic of the title character, Diana Nyad, and shows that hard work is rewarded and that dreams are possible to achieve at any age, but people have to be willing to put in the work, plus there’s a very touching and strong depiction of the two women’s friendship with their male navigator on a marathon swim from Cuba to Florida in 2013, but the two lead characters are lesbians although LGBT issues aren’t discussed (apparently, they dated briefly long ago but are now just best friends, and their friendship is portrayed very cleanly), but two or three gay pride flags are seen in the fringes of a crowded beach scene at the end as crowds cheer for the title character’s finished marathon swim; Language: One “f” word, 23 other obscenities, two Jesus profanities, one GD, four light profanities, and references to vomiting during long swims

Violence:

The female lead is attacked by jellyfish during a dangerous marathon swim, but the attack is hidden by the dark of night and choppy ocean waters (however, her face bears a nasty scar from the bites afterwards), there’s a brief moment of peril as a shark comes dangerously close to her, but is averted

Sex:

Several brief flashbacks show that a swim coach sexually abused the lead character, though it’s implied rather than shown, the two female best friends comfort each other over their memories of both being abused by the coach, and the movie mentions that the two friends are lesbians but doesn’t show any lesbian behavior (the title character has said they only dated very briefly and learned quickly they could never be intimate)

Nudity:

Extremely brief bare rear end of a woman is shown, with the purpose of revealing how sunburned she got from swimming 60 hours straight in the ocean

Alcohol Use:

Brief alcohol use

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking, but there’s a verbal reference to smoking a marijuana cigarette; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Title character is a bit egocentric and self-centered.

More Detail:

Diana Nyad is the greatest female marathon swimmer in history, having set a vast array of records, including numerous swims across the English Channel and other world landmarks. However, her biggest dream was swimming unaided for the entire 103-mile distance from Cuba to the Florida Keys. That incredible, inspired quest is depicted in the superbly-made movie NYAD. The movie, however, mentions the fact that Diana considers herself a lesbian, receives support from the homosexual community and was abused by her male swim coach in high school. It also has 31 or so obscenities and profanities, including two strong profanities and one “f” word.