Nyad
Netflix | Release Date: October 20, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
15
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
ObserverRex ReedOct 23, 2023
The result of so much consecration and loyalty to the subject matter is a movie of uncommon exhilaration. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 18, 2023
The movie explores the real essence of determination, and it’s not what people imagine as they recite affirmations to themselves. Nyad shows us determination almost at a level of pathology, as a single-mindedness that could be considered sick, except that Nyad wasn’t delusional about her capacities. Read full review
91
ColliderIsabella SoaresSep 19, 2023
NYAD may use the well-known formula of the underdog eventually proving everyone wrong, but it doesn't feel that formulaic much due to the teamwork on screen and behind the scenes in this film. Read full review
80
The New York TimesAmy NicholsonNov 2, 2023
Diana wants our respect — and by the end of the movie, she’s earned it. While she’s one of the prickliest protagonists you’ll see this year, she’s so raw and earnest and apologetically herself that you adore her anyway — from the safe distance of the screen. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeOct 22, 2023
It’s this – the wry humour provided by the long-suffering Bonnie; the lovely lived-in quality of the friendship – rather than the lengthy swimming sequences and a few slightly unwieldy flashbacks that gives the film its crowd-pleasing appeal. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 18, 2023
Audiences want to see Diana Nyad succeed, but the pleasure of the experience comes from watching actors become these characters. No matter how tricky such feats must have been to re-create, you get the impression that everyone involved was having a blast. Read full review
80
Vanity FairRichard LawsonSep 14, 2023
Vivid and bracing as the film’s swimming scenes are, Nyad crackles most when Nyad and Bonnie are grooving together on land. Bening and Foster have an inviting rapport, credibly playing old pals (and onetime lovers) who are in it for the long haul. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 20, 2023
A grueling, amusing and eventually inspiring bio-pic about the greatest long distance swimmer of them all. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 19, 2023
With Bening giving an all-in, nomination-worthy performance and Foster providing invaluable supporting work, Nyad is an effectively inspirational biopic. Read full review
75
The Associated PressJake CoyleOct 19, 2023
Nyad is balanced between Diana’s admirably insane ambition and Bonnie’s loyal (up to a point) support for her friend. In any case, it’s a reminder, like a pail of cold water, of just how good Foster can be. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayOct 18, 2023
Despite its over-credulous willingness to go along on what through one lens amounts to a massive ego trip, Nyad manages to be a celebration of perseverance, self-belief and learning how to be loved. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubManuel BetancourtOct 17, 2023
If, at the end of the day, Nyad feels like a well-oiled crowd-pleasing sports drama with a heartwarming (if slightly insidious) message about never giving up, that doesn’t blunt its impact. Read full review
70
Paste MagazineAbby OlceseNov 3, 2023
Adapted from Find a Way, Nyad’s book about her experience, Nyad is an inspiring tale of perseverance and refusing to give up on yourself. However, much like Free Solo, it’s also an exploration of the kind of person it takes to do what Nyad did at her age—and it’s often not a positive picture. Read full review
70
ABC NewsPeter TraversOct 20, 2023
It's frustrating that a movie about a woman who dares so much has a script that dares so little. But Annette Bening’s body-and-soul acting as marathon swimmer Diana Nyad and Jodie Foster’s brilliance as her dynamo of a coach will have you cheering. Read full review
70
The Irish TimesTara BradyOct 17, 2023
Working from Julia Cox’s agreeably prickly script, the Oscar-winning filmmakers revel in Nyad’s reputation as a thundering wagon. They are aided in no small way by Annette Bening’s fierce performance, work that trumpets the arrival of awards season. Read full review
70
Screen DailyWendy IdeSep 14, 2023
The filmmakers switch the focus from the suspense of an uncertain outcome to the central friendship between the two women, a friendship that Diana tends to inadvertently torpedo. This allows both actresses to bring a depth and texture that sustains the picture through the extended swimming sequences. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberSep 9, 2023
It is a tribute to Bening’s performance that she keeps us mesmerized by Nyad even at her most stubbornly pigheaded. Read full review
67
IndieWireKate ErblandNov 17, 2023
It’s only in the film’s final moments that Diana realizes the power of the team, but “Nyad” would have felt just that much deeper if the film itself recognized it earlier. There’s more to “Nyad” than Diana, and there’s more to this story than swimming. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyMaureen Lee LenkerSep 9, 2023
It is quite the tale of heroism and courage in the face of adversity, as well as the importance of teamwork and never giving up. But that is all diluted with so many things at play. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireOct 20, 2023
It's a pretty standard story of sports uplift, a familiar tale of triumph over adversity. Read full review
60
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsFeb 16, 2024
It’s a film with some decent feel-good credo (if that type of thing floats your boat), and there’s certainly value in having a film about mature characters that isn’t horrendously winsome and patronising. Read full review
60
EmpireJohn NugentNov 3, 2023
A classic American sports movie, with all of its triumphs and clichés — kept afloat by two brilliant, warm lead performances from Annette Bening and Jodie Foster. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 25, 2023
This heartfelt story is always watchable. Read full review
60
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzOct 19, 2023
Perhaps fittingly, the directors’ big foray into Hollywood is saved by the star power of the two industry legends headlining the film. Bening and Foster are absolute delights from beginning to end. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeSep 14, 2023
While a dedicated Bening gives her all in a tough, physically demanding role, deserving of at least another nomination if not necessarily a win, it’s Foster who steals the film with a fine reminder of her easy charisma. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangSep 9, 2023
The movie, to its credit, harbors few illusions about Diana’s people skills. And it has, in Bening, an actor with a natural affinity for rough edges and sharp retorts, plus an ability to make emotional sense of a character’s fury. Read full review
58
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodSep 9, 2023
Foster is so good you’re often rooting for Stoll to succeed more than Nyad. And sometimes a performance like that is all you need for a feel-good story like this one. Read full review
55
The AtlanticDavid SimsNov 10, 2023
By making Nyad a narrative film, the movie succumbs to a lot of boring biopic-storytelling shorthand; Nyad sometimes states her goals and fears aloud in the middle of conversation. Much of the thuddingly expositional dialogue cannot escape the sense that it sprouted from an expanded Wikipedia page. Read full review
55
The Daily BeastNick SchagerOct 18, 2023
Just as there’s no reference to the many falsehoods Diana has apparently told about her past, there’s zero overt mention of the controversy surrounding her signature triumph—thereby proving that the film cares more about rah-rah uplift than thorny inquiry or messy reality. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneDavid FearNov 2, 2023
As a portrait of a friendship, one tested by decades of high times and lows, successes and failures, bad behavior and forgiveness, Nyad the movie is trawling deeper waters. As a bio-dramatization of one human’s resilience — and thus a stand-in for the triumph of the human spirit overall — it comes perilously close to merely treading them. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDavid RobbOct 24, 2023
As the film wears on, Diana’s personal motivations are increasingly blurred, and to the point that she comes to be defined almost exclusively by the adversity over which she triumphs. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleOct 17, 2023
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. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreSep 13, 2023
For all that Nyad is happy to show its subject’s personality flaws, it has trouble finding her humanity, Read full review
40
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiOct 28, 2023
It strips Nyad of her complexities for something a bit too formulaic. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyOct 13, 2023
Nyad’s theme of women pulling together just about lands – thanks chiefly to Foster. But following the recipe of human interest this slavishly is a fast track to not being very interesting at all. Read full review
38
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenFeb 28, 2024
To its credit, the movie gently questions Nyad’s compulsion—especially as it relates to her treatment of Bonnie—but it’s too eager to sweep all that under the rug when it comes time for the triumphant final swim. Read full review
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