Released a few weeks ago, this movie was recommended by more than one to me. So I decided to give it a go a few days ago.
This story retells the struggles of Yusra Mardini, and her sister Sara, who are trained by their father to swim at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics. Thing is, the two swimmers are Syrian and their country has been torn out for a few years now. Their neighborhood is not safe anymore. How can they train with bombs falling around? The sisters and one of their cousins flee Syria for Europe. Their parents and younger sister remain meanwhile in Damascus. The cinematic narrative depicts gripping moments, sometimes in a lengthy way, showing how these young ladies handle hardship and the adversities of becoming a refugee. Some visual metaphors of the misery of refugees fleeing to Europe pop up on the screen but the movie leaves them unexplored. This tale showcases an antagonistic relationship between the sisters who display different characters and personalities and still bond and find a way to be themselves in the end.
This production combines the sport's chronicle with the survival account. The result is compelling but not astounding and could have been a tad shorter. It would have been even more interesting to also shed some light on what Sara engaged with, which is far away from being ordinary, and not solely focus on Yusra's path. I admit I fast-forwarded some of the passages. But it was a movie to pass the time.
