Rating: 10/10

The Swimmers is a biographical drama film released by Netflix on November 11, 2022, and it follows the true story of two Syrian sisters, Sara and Yusra Mardini, fleeing the deadly bombings in their war-torn home of Damascus. Both sisters are professional swimmers who risk their lives swimming across the Mediterranean Sea to seek refuge in Europe. Viewers watch as the sisters (and their accompanying cousin) navigate life in a new world and display their unbreakable bond.

This film is phenomenal. It forces viewers to consider life from the perspective of a few teenagers, who should be living a normal life, but whose entire world is turned upside-down due to political turmoil. The start of the movie really highlights the political situation, as it shows how the local youth must cope with the likelihood of untimely deaths for everyone around them. While heartbreaking to see, the problems around them strengthen the powerful familial bonds in the movie; the amount of care the Mardini family has for each other is touching and realistically produced. The sisterly bond is center-stage, and the two actors, real-life sisters Nathalie and Manal Issa, portray the on-screen bond beautifully through compelling and humorous dialogue.

The cinematography is astounding throughout, as photographers captured the severity of the crisis with great precision. In two scenes specifically, one in which their hometown was being bombed and one about the malfunctioning rubber boat to Greece, photographers contrasted the surrounding catastrophes with silence and slow motion, which I thought was really powerful in recreating the disaster. In contrast to the horror and danger of the calamity, water was used as a strong symbol of peace and calmness. 

In general, I love to see the progression of each of the sisters and the plot. It was touching to see their journey and persistence, which kept me at the edge of my seat and on the verge of tears the entire film. Although the ending didn’t give me as much closure as I would have liked, the sisters’ ambition at the end is extremely inspiring, especially considering it was based on a true story. Without a doubt, I rate this movie a 10/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in sports or a sad drama.