Sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini fled their home country of Syria in 2015 when their house was destroyed during the civil war. They journeyed to Lebanon and then onto Turkey where they arranged to be smuggled into Greece on a dinghy. However, the refugees were in the middle of the Aegean Sea when the engine of the overcrowded dinghy cut out and the pair, plus two others who could swim, were responsible for saving the lives of those on board. Just a year after their harrowing e... (Full plot summary below)
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Sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini fled their home country of Syria in 2015 when their house was destroyed during the civil war. They journeyed to Lebanon and then onto Turkey where they arranged to be smuggled into Greece on a dinghy. However, the refugees were in the middle of the Aegean Sea when the engine of the overcrowded dinghy cut out and the pair, plus two others who could swim, were responsible for saving the lives of those on board. Just a year after their harrowing experience Yusra competed in two swimming events at the Rio Olympics as part of the Refugee Olympic team.
Leave your thoughts about The Swimmers.
| Screen DailyNikki BaughanIts impact comes not only from the real-life events it’s depicting, but also the way in which it frames this now-familiar tale; a triumph of human – and particularly female – will against adversity and a celebration of those who would seek a better life, despite the costs. |
| RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloThe Swimmers is about a cause much bigger than the Olympics and is told on a personal scale that makes the issue accessible and unforgettable. |
| The TelegraphTim RobeyUnashamedly rousing and immaculately crafted, The Swimmers is up there with Creed as a sports drama with more at stake than individual glory – a global-humanist purview to which it ascends without getting the slightest bit preachy. |
| SlashfilmSarah MilnerAlternating between exuberant and exhilarating, heart-warming and horrific, "The Swimmers" is an ambitious picture that tells an almost unbelievable tale of struggle, perseverance, and triumph. |
| Time OutHanna FlintNot all heroes wear capes, some wear swimming caps – and The Swimmers is an empowering reminder that it is a human right to live safely, no matter where you come from. |
| The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe Swimmers tells this story as an inspirational (but rarely sugarcoated) crowd-pleaser. Within those terms, it hits its marks. |
| The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenIn the case of Yusra and Sara Mardini’s remarkable survival story, their empowering journey ultimately proves more rewarding than the conventional destination. |
| Little White LiesDavid JenkinsOne issue with here is there’s so much plot, alongside a persistent desire to frame and underscore every one of this journey’s universal resonances, that it’s hard not to feel bogged down in ideas and details. |
| EmpireLou ThomasA long, sometimes broad film, but one that tackles an important and prescient subject, especially considering the ever-increasing numbers of asylum seekers crossing seas in dangerous circumstances. |
| TheWrapSteve PondThe juxtaposition of jubilance and misery is the film’s modus operandi, however jarring it may seem. |
