A trailer for The Novice, an acclaimed sports thriller starring Orphan star Isabelle Fuhrman, is hitting the web Tuesday ahead of its release in U.K. theaters next month.
The film centers around Fuhrman’s Alex Dall, an obsessive freshman who joins her college’s rowing team. This isn’t your typical underdog story, however, as Alex undergoes physically- and psychologically-grueling extremes to make the top varsity boat, regardless of the toll it may take to get onboard.
From the trailer, The Novice harkens back to films like Whiplash or even Black Swan, though it seems that much of the protagonist’s torment is self-inflicted, by the looks of things.
The film is from first-time director Lauren Hadaway, who wowed critics at The Novice‘s world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June of last year. It won three awards at the festival, including Best U.S. Narrative Feature Film. The film was also nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature, Variety reports.
Hadaway wrote the film based on her own life experiences as a college rower. She wrote the first draft over three weeks of 2016 reshoots on Justice League, where she worked as a Supervising Dialogue / ADR editor, according to Deadline.
In North America, IFC Films released The Novice in theaters and on video on demand on Dec. 17, 2021.
However, The Novice will see its theatrical premiere in the U.K. on April 1, via Vertigo Releasing.
