Simone Biles Rising

Not every athlete is worthy of a documentary, but Simone Biles isn’t just any athlete. Simone Biles: Rising is a well-crafted document of one of the best to ever do it.

Some of the documentary’s most important scenes describe the climate that encouraged Biles and other young gymnasts to endure painful injuries and accept mistreatment from authority figures. .... Raisman is one of many gymnasts who appear in the new series, offering thoughtful perspectives on the unique hazards of their sport and what it means that Biles acknowledged the trauma of Nassar’s predation and the ensuing investigation.

Genuinely inspiring.

The four-part docuseries is an elegantly paced and vulnerable account that infuses the history of gymnastics with Biles’ personal legacy– which has been hard-won but mesmerizing to watch.

Episode one is perhaps a little broad. It gives the impression of a compromise between all that intimate access and true candour, but, by episode two, the series has settled in comfortably. .... It picks up as she prepares to return to competitive international gymnastics and goes back to explore the “very military” system that fostered her talents.

This is a valuable piece of documentary filmmaking, not only for its celebration of the amazing career of the 27-year-old Biles, but for shining a light on the mental health issues that can be at least as damaging and problematic for an athlete’s life as any physical injuries.