This time she is intent on becoming the best novice rower in her school’s team. And nothing will stand in her way…
What a movie.
The Novice is a corrosive, frighteningly claustrophobic look at someone who cannot abide defeat (even if that means being Number Two).
It is appropriate that this review is dropping close to October because this is a horror movie.
The debut of first time writer-director Lauren Hadaway (a former rower herself), The Novice keeps the viewer locked to the central character’s point-of-view.
Positioned around a scorching performance from Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Hadaway’s film is uncomfortably intimate.
We are introduced to Alex scribbling through a test, rubbing out her answers and retaking it.
Alex is obsessed with the need to prove the supremacy of effort over talent. She is majoring in her worst subject; she is training in a sport she has no talent in; she even shoots her shot with a member of faculty (Dilone).
The filmmakers use shallow focus and muffled sound design to reinforce her sense of focus.
We see everything from her point of view: snatches of conversation; bits of her teammates’ expressions and actions.
The effect is arresting and increasingly oppressive.
We never get a sense of the world around Alex - only what interests her.
Hadaway does a great job of conveying the character’s frustration, particularly with fellow novice Jamie Brill (Amy Forsyth).
Initially, it is easy to be onside with Alex.
Jamie is confident enough to show pride in her capabilities, and a healthy lack of deference for the institution’s traditions and hierarchies.
When presented in soundbytes and leering close-ups, she can come across as an egotistical monster.
There are so many moments early on where the camera will fixate on Jamie saying something that seems directed at Alex.
What is great about Jamie’s character is that she is never an intentional antagonist - she is constructed in this way solely from the techniques used for Alex’s perspective, colouring and recontextualising her words and actions in terms that make her seem nefarious.
As the film progresses, that close proximity to the main character becomes increasingly claustrophobic as we watch her increasing detachment from reality.
Scenes become increasingly fragmented and distorted, with snatches of sweaty, straining faces captured in blurry fish-eye lensed frames.
The film becomes an exercise in body horror, as Alex pushes her limits and begins to self-harm.
The camera takes in her physical decline - a blister on her hand grows and becomes infected, with dark lines coursing up her arm.
The movie is pitched to maintain a sense of anxiety, capturing the character’s overriding drive.
Hadaway had to do the editing herself (she shares final credit with Nathan Nugent), and it adds to the film’s unrelenting sense of forward momentum.
Jump cuts, ellipses, every cut is hacking away waste, sanding off any chance to catch your breath.
It is almost akin to watching an action movie - if it was from the Terminator’s perspective (and not the nice one).
The Novice is a remarkable piece of work, and deserves to be seen. Hopefully it marks the beginning of a great career for Hadaway and an entree to bigger things for Fuhrman.
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