‘True Spirit’ Movie Review: A potentially inspiring story that struggles to survive.

A still from the ‘true soul’ Photo credit: Netflix

Netflix’s latest movie, True soultells the true-life story of Jessica Watson, who crossed the world’s oceans alone at the age of 16.

In 2009, on the first night of her trial run, 16-year-old Jessica’s (Tegan Croft) boat collides with a large container ship at sea and is brought back to shore. The incident, just before she was set to set off on her world record-breaking journey, thrust her into a harsh media spotlight where questions were raised as to whether a teenage girl should even be allowed to accomplish the feat. . There is also talk of a proposed government bill to stop it from going completely. Telling the story of a young man alone in the rough seas for 210 days, the film chooses to double down on overcoming these obstacles on land, but that leaves the story only to explore the feats of human endurance that She could find out.

Because Jessica chooses to embark on this difficult journey, her obstacles and successes take on a different shape than someone who was thrown into such a situation by accident. Determined to follow in the footsteps of Jesse Martin, who successfully attempted the feat in 1999, Jessica draws her motivation from a desire to prove her critics wrong. Although true, this is the only major obstacle shown to be overcome that weakens the premise of the film.

Months into her expedition, and after crossing her fair share of choppy seas, Jessica faced a week of stasis. With no wind at sea, his sailboat refuses to move. During calm days at sea, Jessica is shown struggling with her difficult emotions. Now that she’s not preoccupied with keeping her boat and herself safe, Jessica’s mind turns to loneliness and self-doubt, and in a moment of rage, she even lashes out at her coach, Ben. One of the most compelling parts of the film is Jessica’s struggle with her choice, however, the rest of the film revolves around her.

The film also makes a habit of repeatedly cutting to Jessica’s childhood to hammer home what we already know – that she has the requisite determination to complete the journey. Harking backs also often encounter large storm surges or 70-foot waves right in the middle of Jessica, thus reducing the desired impact of storm surges. This feature also extends to the writing, which leans heavily on exposition and is peppered with dialogues selected from the daily stimulus calendar.

Throughout its runtime, True soul A sincere attempt to convey the emotions of a young man who wants to achieve his ambitious dreams. A young girl who wants to brave all the oceans in the world makes for a great story. However, in its desire to create a grand picture of inspiration, the film misses out on exploring the complexities of human predicament.

True Spirit is currently streaming on Netflix.