There’s nothing quite like starting the year off with a great documentary – it can be a great way to reset yourself a little and gain some new perspective. Maiden is one of the best of recent years, too, and it’s been nestled on Netflix for a little while, but will be leaving the service on 13 January – so you don’t have long to check it out!
And that start the year off great is also the ending to something else brilliantly fun: this is the last entry in T3's 12 Days of Streaming, featuring a must-watch movie posted daily from Christmas Day 2023 through to today, Twelfth Night, when you've got to take all your decorations down!
Maiden tells the awe-inspiring story of Tracy Edwards, a passionate yacht racer who in the late 1980s assembled the first ever all-woman crew to take on the astounding challenge of the Whitbread Round the World Race – which was exactly as massive a hurdle as it sounds on the tin.
This was a race dominated almost exclusively by men, and the amount of pushback, out-and-out sexism and patronising warnings they have to suffer through is incredibly galling, needless to say. That’s before you turn to the actual physical peril of yachting in crazy storms miles and miles from any form of help, too.
Part of what makes Maiden such a success, though – as demonstrated by that unbelievably high 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes– is that it does a terrific job of not just portraying the physical challenges that the crew faces, but also delving into the emotional realities, too.
After all, Tracy Edwards didn’t just have to actually captain her yacht, she had to finance it, push back against those who didn’t want her or her team competing, and do it all against a backdrop of genuine danger and the very highest stakes.
Getting a proper look into her mindset, both from the at times incredible footage from the race itself, and in interviews with her older self, creates a pretty touching and impressive portrait of what it can look like to harness an obsession powerfully, and to let your passion drive you forward.
You’ve got only a little time remaining to make sure you don’t miss this one, and while it might not be quite as famous as other documentaries that have caught fire on Netflix, it’s every bit as good as any of them. Whether you like sailing or not is irrelevant, as this is a human tale that must be seen.
