The Novice

Novice takes rowing and obsession and makes it incredible. Her drive to be the best is incredibly intense and the cinematography and music are spot on. Her manic way of pursuing life draws you in.

Channeling a bit of Whiplash in its tale of obsession & compulsion, The Novice is raw, intense & gripping when it gets the combination right and is propelled by a thoroughly committed act from its leading lady. It is competently crafted & expertly shot yet what prevents the film from soaring to better heights is its lack of restraint, for it overdoes style to a point that it becomes overbearing.

Written & directed by Lauren Hadaway in her directorial debut, the film's damp & darkly lit set pieces provide a grittiness & perspiring feel to the story and the drizzly atmosphere & piercing score only amp it up further. Through her protagonist, Hadaway deftly captures the danger of ambition turning into obsession but being a novice at feature filmmaking herself, she does get carried away a few times.

What at first seemed like a motivational story of drive, determination & endurance paving way for success soon turns into a physical & psychological nightmare as our lead character goes to extreme lengths in pursuit of her goals. And Isabelle Fuhrman's strenuous & stressful input renders her inner anguish & unhealthy fixation with startling fidelity. It sure is disturbing & worrisome to watch but it's also the film's highlight.

Overall, The Novice makes for a riveting, thrilling & cold-hearted portrait of a young woman's all-consuming journey to the top and despite a few shortcomings of its own makings, it starts the debutant director's filmmaking career on a promising note. Fuhrman really gets under the skin of her neurotic character to deliver an impressive performance that steers this story past the finish line. And she single-handedly makes it worth the price of admission.

This film authentically illustrates the struggles that rowers experience and that obsession and perfection, can sink the the boat before you cross the finish line. Isabelle's performance is elevated by her dedication and believability as the novice.

Lauren Hadaway's debut feature is what you'd expect to see if you zoomed into those rowing scenes during The Social Network and applied the Black Swan treatment to them.

Inspired by Hadaway's own experiences as a rower, the movie tells the story of Alex Dall, a college student who is driven close to self-destruction by her boundless ambition to gain a spot on the varsity rowing team. There's only drips of who Alex is beyond her all-consuming desire for improvement, a frame of mind that leaves little room for social niceties and personal growth.

It's going to feel like your being beaten to a pulp, while traversing flurries of intense montages, frequently contrasted by sweet tunes of the 60s. Hadaway's experience in the sound department goes a long way to articulate the inner life of the movie and its lead, the latter so vicariously portrayed by Isabelle Fuhrman.

There is this ultimate sense that Alex is not fighting against herself, or even against her teammates, but rather against the whole world - one where however good you are, there's bound to be many, many people who are simply better. A fight you can (almost never) win.

Definitely one of the best debuts of the year.

This is a dark thriller about the plunge into darkness caused by an incessant fortitude to be the best at all costs. Director Lauren Hadaway does a terrific job balancing the competing conflicts of the story, giving a movie that paces well and keeps viewers invested in the film. Lead actor Isabelle Fuhrman delivers an sensational performance, convincing in all the right ways. This film has several thematics very similar to Black Swan, from psychosexual to self-harm; thus would absolutely recommend The Novice to anyone who enjoyed Black Swan.