The Novice
Cert: 15 | ★★★★★

Jewish American actor Isabelle Fuhrman (best known for her starring role in the 2009 psychological horror Orphan) shines in this impressive debut feature from director Lauren Hadaway. In it, Fuhrman plays an obsessive freshman who joins her university’s rowing team and pushes herself to the limit to gain acceptance from her trainer and team mates.

Alex (Fuhrman) doesn’t make things easy for herself. On top of deciding to major in physics, her weakest subject, the determined young woman has also set her eyes on a place in the college rowing team. Alex soon becomes obsessed with perfecting her technique day and night, but her behaviour goes up a notch when she is invited by Pete (Jonathan Cherry), her very attentive and encouraging coach, to join the varsity rowing team as a novice.

Hadaway delivers an engaging and impressive queer psychological thriller which delves deep into the destructive nature of obsessive-compulsive behaviour. As Alex enters a competitive world which soon proves to be detrimental to her physical and mental health, we are reminded of Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, a film in which the main protagonist becomes consumed by the idea of perfecting his craft to the point of madness.

As Alex navigates her new relationship with teacher’s assistant Dani (Dilone), Hadaway is careful to capture their sensual encounters with expertly well executed and never voyeuristic close-ups. For her part, Fuhrman vacillates between aggressively confident and disarmingly restrained as she gives her best performance to date.

Featuring a gorgeous soundtrack made up of deeply moving songs from the likes of Brenda Lee and Connie Francis, The Novice feels both fresh and expertly devised. Hadaway has given us an impressive debut in which she mixes mainstream psychological thriller tropes with her own brand of psychodramatic flair to deliver one the best debuts of the year so far.