The Novice (2021)

This story about an obsessive college freshman who becomes a novice on her college's crew team, is intense and very good. Isabelle Fuhrman is terrific in the lead as Alex Dall. Good support comes from many, including the model known as Dilone, who plays teaching assistant Dani, and Amy Forsyth, who plays Alex's colleague Jamie Brill. I give you their full names because, on the team, they are often addressed by only their last names.

Lauren Hadaway makes her directing and writing feature debut, but has worked in the sound department of dozens of movies, including Whiplash. Watch for the bleeding hands in both films.

The alternately gripping (see what I did there?) and sweet music by Alex Weston can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere. He was last blogged for scoring The Farewell. There are also many songs, including one sung by Dilone.

Fuhrman has a few dozen credits, including daughter Tessa Johnson in nine episodes of Masters of Sex. This is Dilone's feature debut, and she was in one episode of The Sex Lives of College Girls. Forsyth's resume includes a small part in Beautiful Boy, ten episodes of The Gilded Age as Caroline Astor (I haven't seen it but plan to), and I'll be writing soon about another of her roles.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are rowing quickly with a 92% average, while its audiences are just floating at 73.

Because of its Spirit Awards nominations for Best Feature, Director, Female Lead, Supporting Female (Forsyth), and Editing (Hadaway), I was able to stream it January 30 from the private Film Independent nominees website. You can rent it on iTunes, Prime, and more.