Editor's Note: The following contains True Spirit spoilers.
True Spirit, out on Netflix now, tells the fascinating true story of Jessica Watson, an Australian sailor who circumnavigated the globe in 210 days back in 2009 – but how factual really is this retelling?
Circumnavigating the globe is impressive as it is, but in Jessica's case, she was also a 16-year-old girl. In a year when most 16-year-olds were planking and doing the stanky leg, Jessica was sailing around the world solo. Earlier this month, Netflix premiered True Spirit, starring Titans' Teagan Croft as Jessica Watson. The movie also features Cliff Curtis, Anna Paquin, and Josh Lawson. True Spirit gives its viewers an honest and inspiring look at a remarkable story of determination and grit while also being littered with hits from the time, like Empire of the Sun's "Walking on a Dream," or "Geronimo" by Sheppard in a way that captures the essence of the early 2000s perfectly.
True Spirit tells the encouraging tale of a young woman, her mentor (Curtis), and her family (Paquin and Lawson portray Watson's parents, Roger and Julie, respectively). Beyond being a tale of hard work and courage, True Spirit illustrates the complicated process a parent must go through in letting a child gain independence and come into their own. Although it's a more arduous journey than most take, at its core, True Spirit is a story of what we can accomplish with the proper avenues of support, no matter how young. To this day, Jessica Watson is still one of the youngest people to circumnavigate the world and the youngest to sail the world unassisted, without stopping. Interestingly, according to the Australian Museum, Julie Watson saw Jessica as the least likely of her children to have become a sailor due to her shyness.
All that said, how much of True Spirit is true, and how much of it was Hollywood magic?
Jessica Watson Already Had Plenty of Sailing Experience by 2010
As it turns out, quite a lot of it was true. True Spirit is based on the book of the same name, written by Watson, about her sailing journey, which began when she was about eight years old. Watson is one of four children born to Julie and Roger Watson, all of which took sailing lessons from a young age. The family even lived on a boat for several years, during which Julie Watson would read Jesse Martin's book about his journey sailing the world as a bedtime story (clearly had a strong influence). In a story without shortness of magnificence, Jessica spent ages 11-15 honing in on her craft. Jessica sailed 6000 ocean and 6000 coastal miles while acquiring numerous sailing qualifications. She would join the crew of several boats, gaining well-rounded experience in sailing.
By 16, she had decided to circumnavigate the world by herself. On October 18, 2009, she (literally) set sail on her boat, Ella's Pink Lady, a 34-foot Sparkman & Stephens yacht. In the process, she faced monstrous waves, storms, and understandable loneliness. She would sail 18,582 nautical miles, which, for those that don't know, is slightly longer than a mile on land by 0.1508 miles. Jessica documented her travels on her blog and by video, which would become well-known and still holds hundreds of comments.
The World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) would determine that Jessica did not technically sail the world because she fell short of the 21,600 nautical miles required by the Council for a sailor to rightfully claim they traveled the world. However, this determination did not seem to matter to the people of Australia, as her arrival home on May 15, 2010, was met with a pink carpet to match Ella's Pink Lady and crowds of admirers. In a twist of fate, a very young Teagan Croft was among one of the attendees of Jessica's return. In 2011, Jessica Watson was named Young Australian of the Year, and in 2012, Jessica received the Medal of the Order of Australia.
True Spirit details controversy and conflict with the media regarding her age, which was very accurate. The Watson family received criticism for allowing Jessica to take on the "Everest of sailing" with her limited experience and youth, even though she had been sailing for nearly a decade by the time she began this journey.
In a moment that displays authentic humility and an attitude that was far beyond her years at the time, Jessica did not see herself as a hero. She saw herself as an "ordinary person, who had a dream, worked hard at it and proved that anything really is possible."
What's Fiction in 'True Spirit'?
According to Entertainment Weekly, Julie and Roger were represented precisely as they were. However, two characters were prominent in the film but were more representations of different people. The first is Ben Bryant (portrayed by New Zealand's Cliff Curtis), Jessica's mentor and disgraced sailor who had lost a crew member while under his command. Ben is a supporting character who is nearly as present as the Watson parents on Jessica's trip. He helps guide Jessica by radio and offers encouragement from afar. In real life (and not mentioned in the movie), Jessica's parents were New Zealanders. She holds dual citizenship in Australia and New Zealand, making Curtis' prominent role almost like a homage to her heritage.
The second made-up character is a particularly inflammatory reporter played by Todd Lasance. Lasance's character, Craig Atherton is based on several reporters who criticized her journey and her parents' support of the trip as they viewed it as too dangerous for a child. The film shows a collision between the Ella's Pink Lady and a cargo ship during a test trip before she begins her voyage. This collision did happen, and in the film, it adds fuel to the fire of the negative press.
In terms of events conveyed in the film, several did not happen in Jessica's real-life journey. Two of them were particularly impactful, the first being stuck at sea with no wind for a week and the second being knocked unconscious by a frying pan during a storm. These made-up events do not take away from the peril of Jessica's journey, though, as there is a scene in which the Ella's Pink Lady is temporarily sunk 15 feet during a storm, and frighteningly, this is true and did happen.
For those looking to watch a movie about a young woman who takes on a Goliath in the form of massive ways and soul-crushing loneliness, True Spirit is currently streaming on Netflix.