'The Novice' Review
R: Language, some sexuality and brief disturbing material
Runtime: 1 Hr and 36 Minutes
Production Companies: Picture Movers Anonymous, H2L Media Group
Distributor: IFC Films
Director: Lauren Hadaway
Writer: Lauren Hadaway
Cast: Isabelle Fuhrman, Amy Forsyth, Dilone, Jonathan Cherry, Kate Drummond
Release Date: December 17, 2021
In Theaters and VOD
Alex Dall is, a queer college freshman who joins her university's rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost. Intent on outperforming her teammates, Alex pushes herself to her limits — and beyond, alienating everyone around her in the name of success.
Usually, Tribeca is the land of inconvenience when it comes to finding good cinema debuts. This year took me by surprise with the number of great films that gut-punched me harder than Lauren Hadaway’s grand jury-winning feature debut The Novice.
You’ve seen overachievers but you haven’t met one like Alex Dall. She's a hard-working freshman who tries to be the best there ever was in whatever she puts her mind to. As she enters her first year in college, she takes up rowing. Much like any novice athlete, she starts very low on the totem pole, but this brilliant character study expresses that an obsessive overachiever mindset can apply to nearly every task. The main crux of the film is witnessing how this young woman over-exerts herself and Hadaway’s script has you in a chokehold throughout. Whereas movies like Foxcatcher and Whiplash involve abusive coaches, the abusive coach here is Alex's subconscious. Alex is Alex’s worst enemy. No coach at all to push her in the direction she wants, but instead you have people around her telling her to “chill.” There is no “i” in “team,” but Alex trains and acts as if there is one. Hadaway’s direction places you within her mindset and it’s intoxicating to witness the chaotic navigation of her first year juggling sports, academia, and social life.
I’ve never seen rowing depicted in a movie outside of The Social Network and Hadaway shows that this sport is nothing to fuck with. The film dives headfirst into the challenges and harsh workouts the students on the team face and it ain’t pretty. Who knew rowing could be so fucking cutthroat? The rowing sequences are so exhilarating they keep you on the edge of your seat. How Hadaway depicts Alex’s mind through dark lighting and creative montages focusing on repetitive vocal cues and echoes is hella captivating. The camera’s disorienting out-of-focus shots of Alex exasperating compliments the dark and disturbing nature of Alex’s toxic determination immerses you completely to the film.
Outside of rowing, the film patiently elaborates on the source of Alex’s obsessive behavior. We all know an Alex Dall of sorts (or have been her). It fluently expresses how the tactics that worked in, say, high school just don't fly in the next level of academic life. It nails that coming-of-age teenage drama but spins it in such a dark tone that it gives the film a one-of-a-kind flair.
I cannot discuss how enticing of a lead Alex Dall is without speaking about the performance by ISABELLE FUHRMAN. Holy shit. Isabelle Fuhrman delivers the defining performance of her career. This is her first leading role since Orphan and, to me, this is the best solo performance of the year. She is a fierce force of nature who commits with grit and you can’t keep your eyes off her. Her portrayal of this merciless, hyper-focused woman is so elite that she went out of her way to do the physical work, including learning to row, to further her commitment. How she fearlessly wanders into unknown waters exploring this woman’s slow descent into madness and coldness is unmatched. It makes me mad that she hasn’t been given more leading roles like this in her career. Isabelle Fuhrman’s performance reminds you that she is a badass actress and it’s one of the best performances I have seen any actor deliver in ages, regardless of gender. What I’m trying to say is: PUT ISABELLE FUHRMAN IN MORE MOVIES, OMG, SHE’S AMAZING.
Amy Forsyth is also fantastic as Alex’s rival, Jamie. She’s another freshman novice rower who is the antithesis of Alex. She’s cynical, deadpan, and blunt, but a hard-working overachiever in her own right. She's more composed, but when she butts heads with Alex, she gets the upper hand in dialogue and gives you chills.
The only thing I found an issue with — and it’s minor — is that the climax features such a last-minute appearance by mother nature adding some anxiety to spark things up. A storm brews well into the climax, some sort of detail about a life-threatening occurrence that was mentioned to the tail end comes to add some last-minute stakes to Alex Dall’s journey. It could’ve been organically tighter to make this finale feel as earned as the natural chills the film evokes throughout, but it does leave a sour taste in your mouth.
All in all, The Novice is an exceptional debut by Lauren Hadaway as both a director and writer. It’s an unflinching drama that rips some chills into your chest. It’s a grand character study of a young woman coming to her own in a dark and grounded notion, along with a mesmerizing central performance by Isabelle Fuhrman to boot. God, Hollywood. You better be blowing up Lauren and Isabelle’s phones right now.
