The first trailer for Daisy Ridley and Stephen Graham‘s new movie Young Woman and the Sea is here.
Based off Glenn Stout’s 2009 book of the same name, the movie follows the story of competitive swimmer Gertrude ‘Trudy’ Ederle (Ridley), a US Olympic swimmer who went on to become the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926.
In the trailer, we see the obstacles Trudy faced after announcing her plans to swim across the channel, chiefly sexism from critics who believed it was impossible for a woman to complete the swim.
“You know most men believe we’re too weak to compete,” Trudy’s swimming teacher Charlotte (Fleabag‘s Sian Clifford) tells her in one scene, while another character adds that her critics “want the water to win”.
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Despite the lack of support and concern from her family, Trudy perseveres with her goal, insisting that she will swim across the Channel no matter what.
“I came all this way, might as well see England,” she adds in another clip.
Alongside Ridley and Clifford, the film also stars Kim Bodnia (Killing Eve) as her father Henry Ederle and Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) as Trudy’s trainer Jabez Wolffe, while Graham plays Bill, a sailor who tracks Trudy’s progress across the channel.
Also starring is Tilda Cobham-Hervey (I Am Woman) as Gertrude’s sister Margaret Ederle, Glenn Fleshler as James, and Jeanette Hain as Gertrude, Trudy’s mother.
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The script has been written by Jeff Nathanson (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, 2019’s The Lion King) and directed by Joachim Rønning (Tron: Ares).
Speaking about his reasons for directing the project, Rønning said: “As a father of two teenage daughters, I really wanted to make a film that resonated with them, about a girl that changed the world.”
Young Woman and the Sea will be released in cinemas on May 31.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Brenna Cooper is a freelance journalist, who currently specialises in entertainment reporting. She joined Digital Spy in 2022, writing TV and movies stories for the site. After graduating with an NCTJ accredited Journalism Masters from the University of Sheffield in 2020 she has since embarked on a freelance career.
Brenna previously produced lifestyle content for Checklists.co.uk and has a specific interest in music, reviewing live acts and interviewing bands such as Confidence Man and Amyl and the Sniffers.
