Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad arrived in Key West, Fla., to cheers and rainbow flags on September 2, 2013, having finally fulfilled her dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida without the aid of a shark tank at age 64 and after three incomplete attempts. Throughout the 110-mile feat, Nyad's friend and coach, Bonnie Stoll, was at her side, cheering her on, guiding her, staving off jellyfish, and monitoring her nutrition. The first images have dropped for the Netflix film starring Annette Bening as Nyad and queer icon and double Oscar winner Jodie Foster as Stoll.
Adapted from Nyad’s memoir, Find a Way, the film from writer Julia Cox and directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin begins with Nyad in her early 60s ahead of her 2011 Cuba to Florida swim. The film opens with Nyad — despite her successful career in sports journalism — determined to complete the swim she first attempted in 1978 but was forced to quit after 42 hours due to massive waves. At the time of her decision to get back in the water, Nyad had completed major swims like circling the island of Manhattan in seven hours and 59 minutes and completing what was then the longest swim in history in 1979 — 102.5 miles from the Bahamas to Florida.
Nyad chronicles the titular character’s decision to fulfill her dream of finishing the Cuba-to-Florida swim, although she said at the time that she “hadn't swum a stroke for 31 years.” The big swim, replete with vicious storms, jellyfish, and sharks, is at the movie's core, but there's also a story of deep friendship between Nyad and Stoll, queer women who are chosen family. In flashbacks, the movie shines a light on the sexual abuse Nyad suffered at the hands of her swim coach as a young girl.
An ally to the LGBTQ+ community and the mother to a trans son, Bening played a lesbian opposite Julianne Moore in Lisa Cholodenko’s 2010 film, The Kids Are All Right. A Best Actress Oscar winner for 1988’s The Accused and 1991’s The Silence of The Lambs, Foster came out publicly at the Golden Globe Awards in 2013. Foster previously played a queer character in 1984’s Hotel New Hampshire.
The film costars Rhys Ifans as the navigator guiding Nyad and the team through potentially treacherous waters. Nyad premieres in theaters on October 20 and on Netflix November 3.
Check out the first-look images of Nyad below. All images courtesy of Netflix.
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