The Novice (2021) Movie Review
The Novice is the first feature film from writer and director Lauren Hadaway and it’s one of the most excellent directorial debuts I’ve seen in a long while. Alex Dall (Isabelle Fuhrman) is a college freshman and decides to join the rowing team, despite the fact that she has never rowed before. When she learns it’s possible to make the varsity team, she becomes singularly focused on that goal.
Another freshman, Jamie Brill (Amy Forsyth), is also looking to make the varsity. Brill is more athletic than Dall and is probably better suited to rowing. Dall is undeterred by her weaknesses and begins to train harder and harder to attempt to make up for her lack in athletic gifts. This obsessive nature carries over into other aspects of her life. She is a physics major despite physics being her worst subject. During her physics class she takes tests three or four times and uses up the entire three hour period with her re-tests. The TA of the class, Dani (Dilone), is equal parts annoyed and intrigued by Dall. They meet up at a bar after class one day and strike up a relationship.
It is in her few conversations with Dani that we see a bit of Dall’s past. She regales Dani with a story of outworking a guy in high school who was set to be the valedictorian. Dall explains how he was smarter than her and better in most subjects, but Dall simply outworked him. It’s clear she’s using this same formula for rowing. Dall’s descent into chaos gets worse as time goes on. She is competing for the varsity spot and pushes herself to the limit. Her hands have bloody sores from all of the time she’s spent rowing. She wakes up at 4:30AM to hit the gym or to row in a single boat on the river. Her desire to make varsity is unmatched and this makes her slightly unhinged. She is single-minded to the point of recklessness.
Dall is oddly relatable, despite the frightening intensity with which she attacks rowing. She is not naturally gifted at rowing (or physics) but she is determined to succeed anyways. At one point she even tells Brill, “That’s your problem, you only do what you’re good at.” There is something admirable about Dall’s mission, even though she clearly has mental health issues that need to be addressed (at one point she scrapes the side of her ribs repeatedly with scissors).
Hadaway keeps things interesting and finds unique ways to shoot Dall’s many intensive training sessions so it never feels boring. Part of that is due to Fuhrman’s ferocious screen presence. She is captivating to watch and you’ll find yourself rooting for Dall and worrying about her simultaneously. Despite being rather petite, Fuhrman fills up the screen with her intensity and energy and it’s hard to look away. The Novice was one of my surprise favorites from 2021. A psychological thriller with a compelling protagonist competing in a physically brutal sport – The Novice delivers.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like psychological thrillers about determination
2. You like rowing
3. You like intense movies featuring someone mentally spiraling
