TEENAGE KICKS

THE GYMNAST

2026 / 84 min / color

Sixteen-year-old Monica’s ultimate dream is to compete at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. A gifted gymnast on the verge of making the US national team, her life and her father’s are tethered to a relentless, grueling training regimen. The stakes are high; in Pittsburgh, where industrial decay has hollowed out the local economy, a career in sports is one of the few ways to transcend a future with few prospects. But a catastrophic knee injury shatters all her aspirations in an instant; the world Monica and her father had meticulously built collapses and their high hopes come face-to-face with a brutal new reality. In her debut feature, which screened to great acclaim at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, director Charlotte Glynn goes for unvarnished authenticity. Her approach is anchored by the lead performance of real-life gymnast and vlogger Britney Wheeler. The Gymnast masterfully weaves an intimate coming-of-age drama with an evocative portrait of a city in decline.