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One of the first things that strikes you while watching “The Novice” is the sound design, which is delicately layered and interwoven with everything from gentle music to water, wind, birds, breath, the scribbling of a pencil, and the pounding of running shoes. And beneath it all, the tiniest rumble that builds and churns over time, creating an unavoidable sense of impending doom.
With her feature filmmaking debut, writer/director/co-editor Lauren Hadaway creates a personal and powerful sensory experience on all levels. But it is the sound editing, which is Hadaway’s first love after working with the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Zack Snyder, and Damien Chazelle, that captures your attention right away and keeps you captivated throughout. Her work, however, creates an increasingly claustrophobic and sinister sense of place within the competitive world of collegiate rowing, making a picturesque campus feel increasingly claustrophobic and sinister.
The young woman who is pushing herself to the brink of breaking point in pursuit of athletic excellence is played by Isabelle Fuhrman, who delivers an intense and precise performance as the young woman. Such a singular drive is typically depicted as noble and even inspirational in sports movies about men, and it is unquestionably a goal to which everyone should aspire. Nonetheless, a woman’s quest for perfection is all too often misinterpreted as a sign of instability: She must be insane, what is wrong with her, etc. Hadaway is inspired by her own experience as a college rower (at my alma mater, Southern Methodist University, Go Mustangs), and Fuhrman, best known for her role as the creepy star of “Orphan,” brings her character to life in a startling way. She gives a committed performance as freshman Alex Dall, both physically and emotionally, in the role of Alex Dall. What’s even more impressive is that she accomplishes so much without ever saying a word, simply by flickering her dark eyes or shifting the way she walks around. You won’t want to run out and follow her example after watching her character destroy her body and mind in the name of athletic greatness after watching her character do it, but you’ll be intrigued by why she does it.
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Rowing happens to be the most recent activity in which Alex has completely immersed herself. It is also evident in her classes, where she is frequently the last to leave because she is repeatedly poring over tests in minute detail. The freshman’s Type-A desire to work harder than everyone else is also evident in her classes. So she earned a full-ride presidential scholarship to this prestigious East Coast university, and it is this opportunity that has motivated her to not only make the rowing team but also to compete at the varsity level in her first year. Jamie (a tightly wound Amy Forsyth), her equally ambitious rival, works just as hard, but for a different reason: as a lifelong multi-sport athlete, she requires the scholarship money in order to continue her education. She’s also the better rower, so while Alex is constantly demanding of herself, Jamie sets a specific goal for her to achieve in the boat.
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Alexandra Hadaway’s story is told in raw scribble, with each chapter representing a month in Alex’s life. Hadaway follows Alex’s development from eager newbie to exhausted climber as she competes against the more established rowers for a spot in one of the elite boats. As part of a collaborative effort with fellow editor Nathan Nugent (“Room,” “Disobedience”), Hadaway quickly reveals the grueling schedule Alex endures as she attempts to balance academics with athletics. Even the training montages, which are a standard trope in any sports film, feel fresh and inventive here, thanks to the film’s crisp pacing, inventive camera angles, and the occasional slow-motion sequence set to a classic song like Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry,” among other elements. In particular, the bouncy, string-heavy score by Alex Weston contributes significantly to the sense of forward momentum and, increasingly, anxiety.
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Alex, on the other hand, is always an outsider, no matter how hard she works, how strong she becomes, or how much she improves her times. Although the rowing team setting is specific and detailed, the way in which Alex is hard on herself in all aspects of her life will be relatable to a large number of women at various stages of their own lives. Aside from her friends and family, Alex’s girlfriend (played by the cool and alluring model/actress Dilone) is one of the many people telling her to relax and slow down. So do her coaches (Jonathan Cherry, Kate Drummond, and Charlotte Ubben, all of whom are excellent in supporting roles), who have been involved in the sport for a long time and understand how exhausting it can be. In the final moments before Alex’s life is lost to him, Hadaway returns to a couple of disturbing images—menacing ravens cawing, a crab in a pot of boiling water—a few too many times. Aside from Fuhrman’s compelling performance, the film’s evocative cinematography by Todd Martin makes her deteriorating mental state disturbingly clear.
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However, not everything is a source of torture. When Alex is firing on all cylinders in the middle of “The Novice,” she is not only keeping up with but also exceeding her own expectations. In these moments, she and Hadaway do take a moment to lay back and take a deep breath, to notice the trees and the hypnotic sound of water lapping against the oars, to notice the beauty of the world around them. In order for us to understand why she pushes herself so hard—and why she makes her final, surprising decision—we must see scenes of peaceful solitude and contentment. In its direct simplicity, Hadaway’s final shot is a powerful piece of work that will leave you looking forward to whatever challenge she faces next.
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The film is currently playing in theaters and is also available on digital platforms.
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