This film’s daytime-soap vibes render an unquestionably inspiring true story into an experience that feels entirely false
here is much to be inspired by in the real-life story of Jessica Watson, who, at 16, famously set out to become the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop and unassisted around the world. But translating that solitude-filled 210 day voyage into interesting drama for the screen is no easy task - as director Sarah Spillane’s gloppy, goofily executed and terribly tweefilm reminds us.
Every narrative involving arduously long trips across intimidatingly large bodies of water must at some point reiterate the traveller’s loneliness. In the 2003 Australian thriller Visitors, Radha Mitchell delivers a rousing performance as a young woman also sailing solo around the world, whose longing for conversational engagement leads to rather trippy outcomes: not only does she talk to her cat, but her cat talks back .
Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning In True Spirit, Watson – played by Teagan Croft – lies alone in bed, staring at messages written on the wall before recording a teary video. Things get worse when the protagonist answers a call from her mother, Julie , during which her
pain at being alone is eclipsed by our terror at the cheesy dialogue. Bathed in contemplative blue light, Julie, whose dialogue sounds as if she’s reading from a greetings card, recalls a song they used to listen to together and instructs her daughter to “search for the brightest star in the sky … every time you look at it, know that I’m here, at home, staring at that same star.”True Spirit is not just mawkish; there are other problems in the writing.
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