Heartwarming, warm fuzzy story about a white man helicoptered in to save the struggling football team of American Samoa.

It's basically a found family narrative, but we don't really get much development on anyone beyond the captain, Jaiyah (Kaimana), and the aforementioned white coach, Thomas Jongen (Michael Fassbender).

The general gist is: Sports as a way to unite a scrappy team, and finding redemption in family/community. Although, yes, the team was already quite tight-knit and devoted to each other, it was more a matter of letting this stranger in. The religiosity of the tight-knit community is sometimes played for laughs, but is actually generally sincere.

The captain, Jaiyah Saelua, is fa'afafine/third gender [1], and her storyline reads like a trans story for cishet comfort in some senses, although there is some good about it. Bearing in mind that I'm writing this being cis: * the film discusses medical and surgical transition openly, mostly in a positive to neutral way * her team is consistently supportive and never misgenders her * Jaiyah is valued as a independent, beloved leader in her team and community – this is explicitly said by the coach * the coach does, initially, as a way of exerting control * Jaiyah stops taking HRT temporarily in preparation for a big match, and dysphoria gives her a crisis of confidence. She is... successfully hyped up by the coach, and it's never mentioned after that. * some ambiguous talk about “still qualifying for the men's team” which I think is referring to surgical transition as “the last step”? * of course the story is more focused on the “white man with issues” storyline

I would definitely refer to the linked interview with Jaiyah for more – it's well worth reading/watching.

#transprotagonist #sportsfilm #verityonaplane

[1] https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/11/soccer-star-jaiyah-saelua-has-complicated-feelings-about-next-goal-wins