Daisy Ridley Is A Legendary Swimmer In Disney's Young Woman And The Sea Trailer

You know what I miss? Disney's inspirational true story dramas and sports movies. As easy and often valid as it is to poke holes in their predictable narrative structures and complain about them reducing even the most unbelievable real-life events to a cookie-cutter formula, we could do with some earnest, uplifting pictures about marginalized people defying the odds to realize their dreams right about now. We got some pretty good — not to mention culturally sensitive — ones in the '10s, too, including "McFarland, USA" and "Queen of Katwe." Sadly, however, modest to disappointing box office returns have since led to those types of offerings being relegated to streaming only (see also: the underappreciated Willem Dafoe adventure film "Togo").

That was also the original plan for "Young Woman and the Sea," a biographical swimming drama anchored (no pun intended) by none other than Rey Skywalker herself, Daisy Ridley. Luckily, the Mouse House has since come to realize that it needs to start releasing more films in theaters and on physical media again and can't rely on streaming by itself to turn a profit. That, combined with reports of positive test screenings and Disney being in dire need of new products after last year's dual actors' and writers' strikes (now that's what I call "disturbing," right Bob Iger?), has led to "Young Woman and the Sea" being slated for a theatrical premiere instead. 

On that note, you can check out the movie's new trailer above.

What better way to get into the sporting spirit ahead of this year's Summer Olympics in France than with a movie about a historical medal-winning Olympian? Ridley stars here as Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle, who became the first woman to successfully swim across the English Channel two years after taking home a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics. If you've never heard of her, you're not alone. "The most surprising thing about this story is how few people know what Trudy did," said Ridley in a statement (via People). "What she accomplished was not only a personal achievement, but groundbreaking for women in sport."

Adapted from Glenn Stout's non-fiction book of the same name, "Young Woman and the Sea" was written by Jeff Nathanson and directed by Joachim Rønning, both of whom have become go-to creatives for Disney since they collaborated on "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales." Rønning, who's currently overseeing "Tron: Ares," actually got his big break working alongside his former directing partner Espen Sandberg on the Oscar-nominated nautical period drama "Kon-Tiki," which makes "Young Woman and the Sea" a bit of a homecoming for him. He even embraced the same "old-school" filmmaking approach as he did on "Kon-Tiki," with Ridley gamely "swimming in 60-degree water until her lips turned blue" on a daily basis, as Rønning told People. We love to hear it, don't we, folks?

"Young Woman and the Sea" begins a limited theatrical release on May 31, 2024. Its official synopsis reads as follows:

Daisy Ridley stars as the accomplished swimmer who was born to immigrant parents in New York City in 1905. Through the steadfast support of her older sister and supportive trainers, she overcame adversity and the animosity of a patriarchal society to rise through the ranks of the Olympic swimming team and complete the staggering achievement — a 21-mile trek from France to England.