Starring: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans, Ethan Jones Romero, Luke Cosgrove, Jeena Yi, Eric T. Miller, Karly Rothenberg, Marcus Young, Garland Scott, Anna Harriette Pittman
OUR RATING: ★★★½
Story:
Netflix bio-sports drama directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. Nyad (2023) recounts a riveting chapter in the life of world-class athlete Diana Nyad (Annette Bening). Three decades after giving up marathon swimming in exchange for a prominent career as a sports journalist, at the age of 60, Diana becomes obsessed with completing an epic swim that always eluded her, the 110 mile trek from Cuba to Florida, often referred to as the “Mount Everest” of swims. Determined to become the first person to finish the swim without a shark cage, Diana goes on a four-year journey with her best friend and coach, Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster), and a dedicated sailing team.
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Best Quotes
Younger Diana Nyad: The swim I want to do is sixty hours, two and a half days. That’s Cuba to Florida. And it’s outrageous, and it’s overly ambitious, but I think I can make it. And that’s my last swim.
Younger Diana Nyad: Sixty hours nonstop in the open sea. It’s like winning that gold medal in the Olympic Games. The way I look at it, the Bahamas is the appetizer, Cuba is the main course, and retirement’s the dessert. The Cuba swim is rough. I mean, I don’t think anybody knows at this point if it can be done.
Diana Nyad: It’s like the entire world is asleep. And even when awake, they’re barely there. Laziness is contagious, Bonnie, and we’re supposed to just nod along, like it’s normal that everyone’s just surrendered to a banal existence.
Bonnie Stoll: Well, happy freaking birthday to you.
Diana Nyad: Yeah. I brought my Scrabble because, though you won’t admit it, you’re missing a G, two Es, and at least one blank tile.
'Just because we're on a one-way street hurtling towards death doesn't mean that we have to succumb to mediocrity.' - Diana Nyad Share on X
Bonnie Stoll: Have you heard the expression, I’m sure you have. The one that goes, “Leave them wanting more?”
Diana Nyad: I never found that applies to me.
Diana Nyad: Just because we’re on a one-way street hurtling towards death doesn’t mean that we have to succumb to mediocrity. I mean, you turn sixty, and the world decides that you’re a bag of bones.
Bonnie Stoll: I’m fifty-eight, so I wouldn’t know.
Younger Diana Nyad: And I’m sort of torn in this difficult endeavor that is marathon swimming between not wanting to feel all that discomfort anymore, feel that boredom, and feel the vomiting, and feel the cold, and feel the hours. I’m torn between that and the loathing of the self-respect I might lose if I don’t do it. I suppose the word is pride. I feel that I failed, mentally especially.
Diana Nyad: [to herself] Okay. It’s just a little swim. No big deal. Thirty years. Barely anything.
'In this life, you can only rely on yourself. If you want to be great, it is you, your will, your mind, that will take you there. No one else can help you.' - Aris (Nyad) Share on X
Aris: [flashback] The world right now, so much tension, so much fear. We forget we are connected under the same stars, touching the same sea. This is important to your life.
Bonnie Stoll: You got raccoon eyes. Have you been swimming?
Diana Nyad: Yes. Yes, I have.
Bonnie Stoll: Wow. Look at you. Swimmer. Okay. Wow. What’s it been like thirty years since you put on a pair of goggles?
Diana Nyad: That’s right.
Bonnie Stoll: How did it feel?
Diana Nyad: Great. Came right back to me.
Bonnie Stoll: Great exercise at your age. Low impact. Easy on the joints
Diana Nyad: I want to do it.
Bonnie Stoll: Do what?
Diana Nyad: Cuba to Florida. My swim.
Bonnie Stoll: Huh? You’re hilarious.
Diana Nyad: No. I’m not kidding, Bonnie. I’m going to do it.
Bonnie Stoll: No. That’s insane. You tried that when you were twenty-eight, and you did not make it when you were twenty-eight. You’re sixty.
Diana Nyad: Yeah. I don’t believe in imposed limitations. I don’t believe in any limitations. And that’s the reason to do it, not the other way around.
'What else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?' - Mary Oliver (Nyad) Share on X
Bonnie Stoll: I don’t understand. Are you having like a mental breakdown or something?
Diana Nyad: My mind has never been clearer.
Diana Nyad: Don’t you get it? The mind. This is what I was missing when I was younger. I’ve got it now.
Bonnie Stoll: The mind does not swim a hundred miles across the ocean. Right? The body does.
Diana Nyad: You said I needed to do something to get out of my funk.
Bonnie Stoll: I meant you should sign up for speed dating, or get a therapist, not come out of a thirty year retirement for some dangerous, absurd fantasy.
Diana Nyad: I am doing it. I’m not done. I have more in me, and so do you.
Diana Nyad: [to Bonnie] Come on, don’t you want to be fully engaged, fully awake? Your soul ignited by a purpose, a mission? It would be an amazing ride. Think about it. You and me, a great adventure. You were born to coach. And a coach needs an athlete.
Younger Diana Nyad: All the intellectualizations that we learn to get by with during life don’t count anymore, and it’s a very dreamlike state.
'I don't believe in imposed limitations. I don't believe in any limitations.' - Diana Nyad Share on X
Younger Diana Nyad: I’m feeling that I’m as powerful as that ocean. I’m thirty feet wide, with incredible strength and shoulders. Nothing’s going to stop me to get to the other side.
Younger Diana Nyad: If there was ever anyone who could do it, it’s now, and it’s me. This swim is much, much closer to impossible than it is to possible.
Diana Nyad: I’m supposed to last sixty hours out there. I can only do six. What? How long did I make it?
Bonnie Stoll: Four hours and fourteen minutes.
Bonnie Stoll: Let me ask you, could there be another dream?
Diana Nyad: Why would you say that to me?
'Low expectations are key to happiness.' - John Bartlett (Nyad) Share on X
Bonnie Stoll: Well, they’ve been studying athletes, you know, for a long time, and they don’t believe that Cuba to Florida is humanly possible. I mean, especially not for a woman. Especially not for someone your age.
Diana Nyad: Yeah. Well f*** that.
Diana Nyad: Come on! No more sitting on the sidelines. I’ve had it. Listen, Bonnie, I just know I can do it, okay? And I want to do it with you. I got to do it with you. I couldn’t do it without you.
Bonnie Stoll: Alright. Okay, I’m in.
Diana Nyad: [referring to not having a shark cage] Yeah, I don’t want an asterisk next to my life’s greatest achievement.
Bonnie Stoll: But you know it’s never been done before.
Diana Nyad: Exactly. I’ll be the first. I’m the swimmer, Bon. It’s my call.
Diana Nyad: Cuba is on another level. It’s one hundred miles, or sixty hours, of constant swimming. Now, I can stop to get medical attention, I receive nourishment from my handlers, or just float and marvel at the dazzling universe above. It’s just so cool. I’m this tiny speck floating under the stars. But I can’t stop or touch the boat, even to poop or pee.
St. Maarten Kid: Do you poop in the water?
Diana Nyad: Yes. I’ll get back to that.
'Everyone should have a superiority complex. Everyone should feel like the star of their own life.' - Diana Nyad Share on X
Diana Nyad: But first, I should tell you about the cold, the risk for hypothermia. But that’s not what I’m most afraid of.
St. Maarten Kid: What are you most afraid of?
Diana Nyad: Sea creatures. In these very waters, live some of the deadliest marine animals on Earth. Forty-nine varieties of sharks, stingrays, man of war. And at night, you don’t even know they’re there. It’s so dark you can barely see a few inches in front of your face. And they’re right out there, just waiting for us.
Bonnie Stoll: Well, maybe we need like a new angle. Less men in suits and more lady stuff.
Diana Nyad: What do you mean, like tampons? Not that we need those anymore, thank God.
Bonnie Stoll: No. Thank God.
Diana Nyad: Just think of the marketing opportunities with me at the forefront. I don’t know, maybe, “Still dry.” Or just go classic, me on a billboard with your iconic slogan ribboned beneath me, “Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.”
Bonnie Stoll: So I got a lead on a navigator guy.
Diana Nyad: Yeah, well, you show me a navigator that isn’t full of s**t.
'I know that the world wants me to shut my mouth, and sit down, and wait to die. I can't. I won't. I will not accept defeat.' - Diana Nyad Share on X
John Bartlett: The Gulf Stream’s a raging d**k. It’s basically a fast-moving river in the middle of the ocean going east when you want to go north. If you’re not exceeding its speed, then…
Diana Nyad: You’re going backwards. Yes, I know.
John Bartlett: [to Diana] Do you think I’m selling you here, or do you just have a hair across your a**?
John Bartlett: You can have all the pedigree in the world, but if you haven’t sailed here, if you haven’t put in your ten thousand hours, these counter-currents, these eddies, it’s like getting a freaking horse trainer to install your dishwasher.
Diana Nyad: That’s poetic.
John Bartlett: So choose the wrong dude again. No biggie. It just might cost you your life.
Diana Nyad: Well, thank you for your interest in the position.
John Bartlett: Bye.
Diana Nyad: [to Bonnie as she’s walking away] He’ll do.
Bonnie Stoll: I mean, the only way that I’m going to get that magic at this age is through her. How many more chances are we going to get to do heart-pumping s**t, huh?
John Bartlett: So that’s why you’re here.
Bonnie Stoll: Yeah, that and she needs me. Don’t ask me why.
'Why is it so hard to be a person?' - John Bartlett (Nyad) Share on X
John Bartlett: Some people say boring is underrated.
Bonnie Stoll: Wild guess, you’re not one of them.
Bonnie Stoll: [to John, referring to Diana] You know, try not to bump up against the ego. You know, don’t yell at her. She does not respond well to tough love. But don’t baby her either. When she starts to hallucinate, you go with it.
Mia: Why are you throwing up?
Diana Nyad: Because I just swam for twenty-four hours.
Diana Nyad: As we await the signal from Mother Nature, I signed a contract with my soul to never, ever give up. You’ve all sacrificed a great deal. No money, no perks, no guarantees. But I can think of no worthier cause for such sacrifice. My life’s mission, dare I say my destiny, to fight the wildly unpredictable conditions, to tangle with the elements. I will be the first Nyad. If you look my name up in the dictionary, you will see literally “water nymph.”
Bonnie Stoll: That’s great, Diana. Thank you so much. And to destiny. To all of us. To Cuba. Okay?
John Bartlett: To waiting for the weather.
Bonnie Stoll: Cut the s**t. Alright? All this “me-me-me-me” crap.
Diana Nyad: What?
Bonnie Stoll: I mean, I remortgaged my house for this.
Diana Nyad: Yeah, so did I.
Bonnie Stoll: Well, then the correct response would be “thank you”.
'I just want to say three things. One, never, ever give up. Two, you're never too old to chase your dreams. And three, it looks like a solitary sport, but it takes a team.' - Diana Nyad Share on X
Younger Diana Nyad: Every talk show host and every stranger on a city bus asks me, “Why does a seemingly sane, obviously beautiful young woman put herself through this kind of torture?” The whole key to success in marathon swimming, masochistic as it may seem, is the person who succeeds is the person who is willing to endure the most pain in the most number of hours.
John Bartlett: Welcome to the Titanic.
Bonnie Stoll: Don’t listen to him. He’s a chronic defeatist.
Jon Rose: Happy to meet you.
John Bartlett: Low expectations are key to happiness.
Bonnie Stoll: Don’t let the swimmer hear you say that.
Jon Rose: Wait. Are you timing her?
Bonnie Stoll: Yeah, I can hear it. You know, the slap of her hands on the water with the strokes. That’s how psychotic I’ve become.
Bonnie Stoll: So, she wants to keep going. She’s stable. So, what’s our position?
John Bartlett: Are you serious? She could die at any second, and you want to know our position? What the hell are we doing here?
Bonnie Stoll: It’s her dream. Right? It’s her call. And we’re already all the way out here.
John Bartlett: Yeah. Alright. If you can live with it.
Diana Nyad: Why am I not allowed to say that it pi**es me off to be felled by sea creatures, to be rendered powerless by stupid jellyfish? It’s just so beneath me.
Bonnie Stoll: You see, when you say it’s beneath you, that is just demeaning to us. To all of us. To me, to Bartlett, Jon Rose, to Luke, to Dee. We worked hard, Diana.
Diana Nyad: I know you did.
Bonnie Stoll: Yeah, and we were scared s**tless.
Bonnie Stoll: You’ve any idea what it was like for me?
Diana Nyad: I know.
Bonnie Stoll: No. No, you don’t know. I watched you die, Diana. For fifteen seconds, I thought you were dead. All because I said okay to you again. I said, “Oh, yeah. Okay. Sure.” I can’t do that again. I can’t.
Diana Nyad: Yeah. But I wasn’t. I didn’t. I’m here. I’m here. I’m okay. And I’m not quitting.
Diana Nyad: I don’t want to look back and feel like I could’ve fought harder. I hate that feeling.
Diana Nyad: One more time. That’s it. We spend the next year training, but also fixing the jellyfish problem. I actually got a lead on a box jellyfish expert.
Bonnie Stoll: How do you already have a lead on a box jellyfish expert?
Diana Nyad: It’s called the internet, Bonnie.
Bonnie Stoll: [to Diana] Do you have any idea how exhausting you are as a friend?
Angel Yanagihara: I’d say this is pretty crazy, but it’s also very punk rock.
Diana Nyad: [referring to McCardel] I can’t believe this. This is my window. She’s stealing my swim! No, that’s what I’m going to do. God! Where’s a box jellyfish when you need one?
Bonnie Stoll: I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.
John Bartlett: Look, it’s not the only swim in the world. You know we could go someplace else. Guam is nice this time of year.
Diana Nyad: Guam?
John Bartlett: What’s wrong with Guam?
Diana Nyad: It’s not Cuba!
John Bartlett: When are you going to listen to my expertise, Diana? Oh, that’s right. You know everything.
Diana Nyad: No. You’re the expert. Fine. But I’m the CEO of the operation.
John Bartlett: The CEO?
Diana Nyad: We’re going.
John Bartlett: [to Bonnie] You put her over your own better judgment every single time.
Bonnie Stoll: Bartlett’s boat is flooding! I’m not risking human life.
Diana Nyad: We can wait it out!
Bonnie Stoll: You tell me that I should die for this!
Diana Nyad: The only one who gets to decide if I’m through is me.
Bonnie Stoll: You may not be done, but everyone’s exhausted.
Bonnie Stoll: You really don’t get it, do you? What this is like for us? We’re broke. The time, the emotional toll. I mean, it’s been years, Diana.
Diana Nyad: Well, suck it up.
Bonnie Stoll: Your superiority complex is really screwed up, you know that?
Diana Nyad: Yeah. Well, everyone should have a superiority complex. Everyone should feel like the star of their own life.
Bonnie Stoll: Yeah, exactly. My life! My life! And and I got things that I want to do.
Diana Nyad: Yeah? Like what?
Bonnie Stoll: I don’t know. I mean, that’s the crazy part. I don’t even know. What do I want, you know? What do I want to do? But guess what? I get to decide, not you.
Diana Nyad: I just think that you need to make peace with the possibility of my death.
Bonnie Stoll: What does that mean?
Diana Nyad: I would do it for you if it made you happy.
Bonnie Stoll: Oh, would you? Would you do that?
Diana Nyad: Yes.
Bonnie Stoll: This isn’t about you, or your destiny. This is about me, okay? For once this is about me! And you don’t even think of me. You just want me to like tag along with you.
Diana Nyad: No, of course I think about you. I know what you’re capable of better than you do.
Diana Nyad: Look, I know that the world wants me to shut my mouth, and sit down, and wait to die. But I didn’t think you did.
Bonnie Stoll: Stop.
Diana Nyad: I can’t. I won’t. I will not accept defeat. Are you with me?
Bonnie Stoll: No.
Diana Nyad: Attempt number four. Here I am at the launch, nerves screaming. No idea what lies ahead of me, but resolved by sheer will, compelled by the power of the human spirit. Courage.
Diana Nyad: You don’t leave room for imagining defeat. You really do believe that you’re going to make it every single time. But I mean, four tries and four failures.
John Bartlett: Maybe it just can’t be done, you know?
Diana Nyad: What, and I’m just supposed to accept everyone’s denigrating and mediocre standards of what’s possible?
Diana Nyad: Bonnie’s done with me too.
John Bartlett: Oh, cut the s**t. Bonnie loves you. You two are family.
Diana Nyad: You know, it’s not that I don’t know that I’m this way, that I’m so…
John Bartlett: Radical?
Diana Nyad: That’s a nice way to say it.
Diana Nyad: Why is it so hard?
John Bartlett: Yeah, why is it so hard to be a person?
Bonnie Stoll: You are a force. Swim or no swim, you are a force. Know that.
Diana Nyad: I know. And I’m not going to stop. I’m free to keep trying.
Bonnie Stoll: Yeah, you are, Diana.
Diana Nyad: So, I’m going to train and crew up, and see you when I get back. We’ll have dinner or something.
Bonnie Stoll: Sure.
Diana Nyad: Okay.
Bonnie Stoll: You know I’m always rooting for you. Team Nyad.
Bonnie Stoll: Alright. I’m here because I thought about it. And you’ve been my person since we were like thirty running around like idiots. You know, we do things together. We do fun s**t, boring s**t, hard s**t. I tried doing my own thing, but it just wasn’t the same.
Diana Nyad: You’re not a quitter.
Bonnie Stoll: The point is, we’re getting old together. You know, we’re getting old. And if you die, I want to be the last person you see. Don’t die. But if you do, I’ll be right there with you.
John Bartlett: [to Diana, as she’s about to go for her fifth attempt] Elke says we’re already so broke, what’s a little more broke?
Bonnie Stoll: [to Diana] There’s no one more Nyad than you.
Bonnie Stoll: How did she rope you back in?
John Bartlett: We had a nice chat. And I’m sick, Bonnie. She doesn’t know. I’m trying to take it on the chin. Anyway, I figured I had one last adventure in me.
Diana Nyad: I didn’t think I’d see it here. The Taj Mahal. It’s stupendous.
Bonnie Stoll: Head straight towards it, Diana. It’s that way.
Diana Nyad: So, down the yellow brick road?
Bonnie Stoll: Yep. Yellow brick road to the Taj Mahal. Just keep moving.
Younger Diana Nyad: I feel like I have a moment of immortality when I get to the other side.
Bonnie Stoll: [to Diana] See, I know you can because I know what a beast you are. I’m not going to let you give up.
Reporter: [mid-credit lines, real footage] How do you feel seeing hundreds of supporters here for you?
Diana Nyad: Cool. It was cool. I saw the look on their faces. They love to see somebody my age doing something nobody else has ever done.
Diana Nyad: [real footage] I don’t want to be that crazy lady who does this over and over, fails over and over till I’m ninety.
Diana Nyad: [real footage] And I closed my eyes, and I closed my fists. I said it, and I meant it. I couldn’t have done it a fingernail faster.
