Is 2023 the year of the fact-checked biopic? Earlier this year, Eva Longoria’s Flamin’ Hot hit theatres – well, Hulu – amidst heated conversations about the film’s historical accuracy. But that film might prove to be just a warmup for Nyad, Netflix’s new drama about Diana Nyad, the controversial swimmer who has inspired legions of amateur fact-checkers. So much so, in fact, that nyadfactcheck.com is something of a crowd favorite in certain sports circles.
But should a biopic – even one that adapts Nyad’s autobiography – be held to a high standard of accuracy? While Flamin’ Hot might be of questionable truthfulness, Longoria used that history to craft an undeniably charming Mexican American success story. Nyad offers shades of that same charm, but more than a few creative choices get between the film and success.
There’s not a lot of space in endurance swimming for sixtysomething superstars, but former competitive swimmer Diana Nyad (Bening) will not go quietly into that good night. So when she decides to pick up her decades-old pursuit of a distance swimming record – becoming the first person to swim from Cuba to the Florida coast – her willpower alone is enough to convince best friend Bonnie Stoll (Foster) to stand in as her coach. But first, the two women must find the perfect crew of dreamers and burnouts to help make their dangerous journey a reality.
Bening’s a bit of a hard watch as Diana Nyad: Her monotone affections and cold indifference might be faithful to the swimmer, but it’s a pretty grating personality for a two-hour movie. Thankfully, the movie rarely spends a moment where Jodie Foster isn’t also onscreen. She is effortlessly charming as the best friend and future coach, and when directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi reach for themes of interpersonal connection and reliance, it is Foster who is there to pick up the slack. The two play off each other nicely, and when Nyad works, it is as a two-hander about middle-aged women refusing to let society put them in a box.
Like most sports movies, the biggest challenge with Nyad is that it builds to a foregone conclusion. We know that Diana Nyad will be the first person to cross that 110-mile divide – Hollywood studios don’t really barter in almosts – but screenwriter Julia Cox’s script offers a curious subversion of how we build to that moment. It took five attempts for the real-life team to successfully make the journey, and Nyad dedicates screentime to each and every one of them. As a result, we spend much more time on failure than we do on success: failure in preparation, failure in execution, and the occasional old-fashioned act of God.
That’s a deceptively bold creative decision, one that risks stalling out the narrative even as it makes a powerful point about endurance. But it still isn’t enough to offset the sheer convention of the narrative. Diana Nyad may be one of the most famous swimmers in American history. She may also be a serial fabulist whose accomplishments have proven to be a moving target. But cinema is a medium of fabrication, and those who stream Nyad on a random Tuesday will likely skim along the surface – pun intended – of a modest human interest story. The greatest sin that Nyad commits is its adherence to the Netflix model: It’s as serviceable as it is forgettable.
This article appears in October 20 • 2023.