Now is the right moment for a Jessica Watson biopic

You might think you already know the Jessica Watson story, but there’s something about how it hits at this moment in time.

True Spirit is streaming now.

What can you add to Jessica Watson’s extraordinary story?

Millions of Australians – and others around the world – followed Watson’s almost inexplicable journey around the world as she attempted a solo circumnavigation when she was just 16 years old.

That she didn’t technically complete it due to some esoteric rule around distance travelled matters very little to all those who were inspired by her incredible determination. Her grit has become legendary.

And because she broadcast a video blog, sometimes of raw, defeatist moments, only made her both more relatable and more exceptional. She was so incredibly young, and maybe that unjaded youthful verve is exactly what drove her when adults would’ve given up, but also strangely mature.

She was a unicorn, and it’s hard to catch a unicorn. And it’s difficult to capture what made this seemingly “normal” Australian teen such a force of nature. She didn’t seek to dominate the natural world, she wasn’t fighting, she was part of it, she went with it.

True Spirit tries – and mostly gets there.

True Spirit is based on Jessica Watson’s memoirs. Picture: Netflix

The movie, directed by Sarah Spillane, is based on Watson’s memoirs and it charts her campaign from before she sets off, already plagued by the whispers of naysayers, to her triumphant return to Sydney Harbour.

Cutting back and forth between Watson’s (Teagan Croft) journey and her family’s (Anna Paquin, Josh Lawson) and coach’s (Cliff Curtis) experiences on land, it’s also interlaced with flashbacks to her childhood, when the germ of an idea was first planted.

It’s a solid biopic that hits a lot of expected emotional notes, but even despite that, and maybe even despite your best efforts to remain stoic, it will still manage to move you.

Perhaps it’s because the movie carries with it the goodwill of Watson’s achievement and the nostalgia of a particular moment in Australia’s shared history, but only the most unflappable will fail to be uplifted by the climax.

When in May 2010 the real-life Watson sailed back into Sydney Harbour, her achievement came at a time of great economic anxiety after two years of the GFC. We are again in such a moment, faced with a cost-of-living crisis, coming off the back of three years of social upheaval and isolation.

Josh Lawson and Anna Paquin as Jessica Watson’s parents, alongside Teagan Croft. Picture: Julian Panetta/Netflix

Can resurfacing Watson’s story now add something to our murky era? Can her experiences of isolation aboard her ship, moments of real darkness, impart a lesson about tenacity?

You can take from True Spirit what you want. There’s a version in which you could focus on the somewhat generic approach to the story, or occasionally needing to suspend your disbelief at what are clearly sailing scenes shot in a tank on a soundstage.

True Spirit has its flaws, but it there is value in its earnest belief in the human spirit.

The real and dramatised Watson reminds us it’s OK to fail. It’s OK to feel awful. It’s OK to feel defeated. Those are useful emotions. What matters is what you do next – and what you believe you can do next.

Watson didn’t listen to doubters who questioned her age and whether she had the wisdom to know what she was really getting into.

The folly of youth is also the hope of youth. If only we could all be so naïve to actually believe in our dreams, then maybe we would realise them.

Rating: 3/5

True Spirit is streaming now on Netflix