“Last Swim” Captures Youthful Hope & Loss
When you’re a teenager, spending a day with your friends is the most important thing you can imagine. The future doesn’t matter, exams don’t matter, and the rest of the world is of no consequence. What does matter is sunshine, good food, and good friends. That’s lightning in a bottle captured over and over again until the loose, languid days of adolescence are over. It’s one of these days that is at the center of Sasha Nathwani’s Last Swim, a melancholic look at what should be the beginning of the rest of life.
Ziba (Deba Hekmat) grew up with a poster of the view of Earth from space hanging on her wall. It’s a poster you’ve surely seen before. Earth hangs in a black limbo looking like a perfect, swirling blue and green marble. This poster spurred Ziba’s lifetime love of space and pushes her to pursue this field of study as she approaches college age. A meteor event Ziba’s been looking forward to just so happens to fall on the day she and her friends will be receiving the results of their A-level exams. To celebrate both monumental events, Ziba has crafted an itinerary for the perfect day. It includes swimming, the best sandwich, beer, and, most importantly, her group of friends. What they don’t know, though, is that Ziba is keeping a secret from them that makes today even more important to her.
courtesy of Sunrise Films
It’s revealed fairly early on that Ziba has a medical condition that sometimes impacts her ability to keep up with her friends. They tease her for always seeming to bail on plans, but they don’t know that her reason for canceling is deeper than just a desire to stay home. A savvy viewer will begin to fill in the blanks of what Ziba’s not saying and why this day means so much to her. Last Swim’s decision to reveal parcels of information to the audience allows us to feel like we’re a part of Ziba simply because we have more knowledge than her friends. We are able to see the events of the day through Ziba’s eyes in a meaningful way. The weight of the decision she’s considering is heavy on our hearts as well. Since we’re privy to the reality of Ziba’s medical condition, we’re expecting a specific ending, and that colors the events leading up to it. If we’re fairly certain of an outcome, does that sway the way we experience the day with Ziba? The answer is obviously yes, but it’s smart storytelling to put us more firmly in Ziba’s headspace.
Even without the medical subplot, Last Swim has captured the joyful sadness of growing up. Of looking at people you’ve known your entire life and realizing that they’re growing up without you. That there is likely a future where your paths diverge. Not because of a falling out, but because, by coming into your own, you have become someone new. Last Swim masterfully captures the intimacy and the distance that exist between Ziba and her friends in a heartbreaking way that brings to mind the high school friends you may or may not still talk to. So much of adolescent identity is tied to friendships, and Last Swim catches a relationship at a crossroads where there may not be a path forward.
courtesy of Sunrise Films
Last Swim jumps at every chance to celebrate in the eternity that exists for teenagers hanging out with their friends, mere steps from a precipice. There are slow-motion sequences of laughing, carrying on, and the general revelry of youth. As the film goes on, though, these sequences are far too common and replace conversations between the friends about their anxieties concerning the rest of their lives. The film also includes some melodrama that feels awkwardly shoehorned in, as though the screenwriter panicked and thought teenage emotions aren’t enough on their own to sustain the movie. They are, though. The concerns of these kids coming of age in a turbulent era, along with their personal strife, is more than enough to build a script around.
The magic of Last Swim comes from the performances of its young actors. They feel like kids you know: hopeful, stupid, and longing to know what the future holds for them. Last Swim may wade out a little too far at points, but it’s the grounding nature of the young performances that makes it a day to remember.
“Last Swim” will make its U.S. debut with a special one-night-only screening in Los Angeles on July 23, ahead of its release on VOD platforms beginning July 25.
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