A strong female orientation empowers filmmaker Stefan Stuckert's aqua-athletic documentary, going deeper than the expected I-am-woman-hear-me-swim feminist grandstanding. Beth French of Somerset, England is an endurance-marathon swimmer determined to undertake one of the most grueling ordeals in the discipline: the "Oceans Seven." Accomplished by only a handful of athletes. it involves swimming across (in the order dictated by weather conditions), the English Channel, North Channel, Molokai Strait, Cook Strait, Catalina Channel, Tsugaru Strait, and the Strait of Gibraltar. (The hypnotic beauty of the HD underwater footage here cannot be stressed enough.)
Beth French is no well-financed celebrity but a middle-aged, self-employed massage therapist and single mother. In her youth, she was diagnosed with a progressive neuromuscular disorder (now in remission) that would leave her bedridden for months at a time; her health requires constant monitoring. And, with breathtaking hubris, she announces she will finish the Ocean's Seven in only 12 months. Other swimmers take many years.
As the effort begins in 2016, Beth has crowd-funded a small, devoted team of assistants and a coach. Jellyfish and other hostile marine life are described as chronic issues, as is Beth's mental resilience. During the seemingly impossible task, some swims go better than others. An unexpected squall: Beth's emotionally unstable son Dylan (who still sleeps with her). Though he comes along on the expeditions whenever possible, Beth begins to reconsider her priorities.
It is a mild spoiler alert that the recent Simone Biles drama in the Tokyo Olympics adds more piquancy to Against the Tides; at what point does an athlete at the top of his/her game have the right to just stop and call everything off? Even Beth's own mum back in England thinks her daughter should be concentrating on the home front, not global adventures. At first, it seems like she's just a nay-sayer, but events seem to bear her out.
Some viewers accustomed to the simplistic thrill of victory/agony of defeat dichotomy seen in jock dramas may question the heroine of Against the Tides and her choices, but it is a provocative title for both sports and women's-issue collections, with a side theme of autism and parental responsibility. Recommended. (Aud: H, C, P)