Young Woman and the Sea
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: May 31, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiMay 30, 2024
The sort of feel good family film the House of Mouse used to know how to make before the middling box office for Mira Nair’s exquisite 'Queen of Katwe' made them panic and delete all their files on how to inspire young audiences. Read full review
80
VarietyTomris LafflyMay 30, 2024
Throughout Rønning’s sophisticated film and alongside Ridley’s stunning performance — a career highlight for her — we all hold our collective breath and swim with Trudy. Talk about the kind of film they hardly ever make anymore. Read full review
80
Total FilmKate StablesMay 30, 2024
It all adds up to a genuinely affecting, Seabiscuit-style underdog tale, which will get you cheering dogged Trudy past 10ft waves, a shoal of stinging jellyfish, and a plague of obstructive men. That salty liquid on your face isn’t sea water – it’s tears. Read full review
80
ColliderArezou AminMay 30, 2024
Young Woman and the Sea puts its own twist on the inspirational sports movie, with a powerful turn from Daisy Ridley. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 31, 2024
With “Young Woman and the Sea,” Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle finally gets the movie she deserves. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireMay 31, 2024
Young Woman and the Sea doesn’t reinvent the genre in any way, but it keeps us engrossed for every strenuous stroke. Read full review
75
CNNBrian LowryMay 30, 2024
Young Woman and the Sea is an exercise in the simple power of a well-told story, the kind that can wash over and uplift you all at once. Read full review
75
ObserverEmily ZemlerMay 30, 2024
Rønning unfurls the journey with tension and then triumph, even if some of the storytelling leans towards the formulaic. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrMay 30, 2024
The broader history is there for those who are curious and on its own terms this is a story that will keep you engaged. Much of that has to do with Ridley. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshMay 31, 2024
These filmmakers clearly have a knack for capturing nautical adventure and the delusional yet undeniably human desire to conquer the seas. Read full review
70
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiMay 30, 2024
The film keeps things simple, but it shines like a lighthouse in the darkness nonetheless. Read full review
67
IndieWireKate ErblandMay 30, 2024
It’s good enough, rousing enough, compelling enough. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 31, 2024
Based on Glenn Stout’s nonfiction account of the same title, “Young Woman and the Sea” gets by on the careful engineering of clichés, Daisy Ridley and a really good piece of irresistibly rousing history. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldMay 30, 2024
This may not be quite the movie that Ederle deserves, but it’s the one that we’ve got, and it’s definitely a story worth telling. Read full review
63
Washington PostThomas FloydMay 30, 2024
It’s rote, sure, but undeniably rousing. Read full review
62
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeMay 30, 2024
Young Woman is a biopic with all sharp edges removed, the kind of non-threatening, inspirational Disney movie that teachers screen for fidgety students on the last day of fourth grade. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyJun 13, 2024
Young Woman and the Sea is pure Hollywood fluff – but it’s hearty, wholesome fluff, of a kind that makes immediate sense once Jerry Bruckheimer’s name pops up in the credits as a producer. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 30, 2024
Square, lacquered, and livelier than you’re expecting, Joachim Rønning’s film obviously adheres to all the formulae a doughty sports drama needs, starting crucially with the backdrop of adversity. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 30, 2024
By shying away from demonstrating the degree of hardship Ederle underwent to make history, the film shortchanges the catharsis it seeks in its final passages. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeMay 30, 2024
The overworked screenplay doesn’t strip the film of all its merits — there’s plenty here in terms of uplift and inspiration for most audiences — but it does make one wonder about a version of this project that embodied the fluidity Ederle felt in the water. Read full review
60
The New York TimesGlenn KennyMay 30, 2024
This is one of those movies that proves, when they’ve got a mind to, they can still make them like they used to. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraMay 30, 2024
It’s long and sometimes gets swept astray by currents of family drama and period detail, but Ridley’s plucky determination and can-do energy carries the whole thing along. The result is an old-fashioned inspirational pleasure. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithJun 7, 2024
Though rousing in places, “Young Woman and the Sea” is a routine effort that feels made for television, and was (originally slated for Disney+). Clichés and predictability are more forgivable at home, but asking people to take the plunge on a movie ticket for this so-so offering is asking a lot. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonMay 30, 2024
The film evokes all of the usual biopic tropes while painting a standard picture of an extraordinary hero. Read full review
40
The GuardianCharles BramescoMay 30, 2024
The new biopic Young Woman and the Sea presents Eberle’s life as a broadly inspiring parable of female striving and triumph, its plot points readily mapped onto any struggle to break into a boys’ club. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDerek SmithMay 30, 2024
The film leaves no room for doubt about what Trudy Ederle will accomplish, and thus creates virtually no dramatic tension in her inevitable rise to the top ranks of women’s swimming. Read full review
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