Final Rating: 4/5
While Canada’s national sports are both hockey and lacrosse, other popular sports include basketball, soccer and baseball. One sport that Canada has long dominated that helps define our national identity is curling. With over 150,000 active players in all ten provinces and three territories, the game is known across the country.
In Curl Power, a documentary directed by Josephine Anderson, we get a look at the impact that curling has on five teenage girls. In Maple Ridge, a sleepy suburb of Vancouver houses the 4KGIRL$. This youth curling club consists of Brooklyn, Hannah, Savannah, Amy and Ashley whose goal is to win the BC Under-18 Championship and put them on a path of both national and international competitions.
The girls have limited time together as they are getting closer to aging out of the competition. We follow the girls as they practice, travel, compete and focus much of their time on curling. We also get to see them being regular high schoolers, attending social functions, dating and just figuring out who they are in the world.
The girls are coached by Amy and Ashley’s moms Georgina Wheatcroft and Diane Dezura respectively, who were both former Olympic curlings, having won bronze in Salt Lake City back in 2002. Their third coach is Shannon Joanisse, a current professional curler with five Scotties Tournament of Hearts appearances.
What is fascinating is getting such an unvarnished look at what it feels like to be a teenage girl in this day and age, how different they are and how problems for young people never really change. Along the way we get different looks into what is on their minds while they attempt to achieve greatness.
Ashley’s mom Diana can be a hard nosed coach on the ice, but off the ice she is battling breast cancer. While it is implied that she will get a mastectomy and everything will be fine, it still is a lot to ask such a young person to deal with in a mature way. Ashley is forced to keep the information to herself as Diana doesn’t want other people to project their sadness onto her.
Brooke, like just about every young woman, struggles mightily with her body image. She talks about her unhealthy relationship with food and how it’s easier to just not eat so other people won’t judge her. She claims in a heartbreaking moment that she’ll be happy if she just loses fifteen pounds. Hopefully this is a moment that after some time has passed, she can look back at how ridiculous of a feeling that is as she hopefully learns to love herself better.
Amy is older than the rest of the girls by a year, which means she is about to graduate high school and will be leaving the group before the others. While at a training camp conducted by Olympic gold medalist Kevin Martin, Amy is swayed to apply to the University of Alberta and their top notch curling program. She does get in, and the five girls become a foursome in their final year together.
We learn about the girls personal lives and what makes them tick as they struggle with not winning competitions and living up to their coaches’ reputations. Much like other sports, we see the dedication and training needed to even play at the level and ages they are at. The film features beautiful shots of curling and makes the game feel poetic.
There is a great moment in the film where Ashley goes through her moms Olympic memorabilia that includes her iconic Roots uniform that she wore during the opening ceremony in 2002. Diana starts to tear up as she thanks her daughter for sharing an interest in the same sport she loves and that she treasures her moms former gear as Ashley puts on her team jacket.
The film is filled to the brim with honest and heartfelt moments as the girls struggle and overcome obstacles around them both on the ice and in the real world. It’s a gentle film, but one that is a great reminder of chasing your dreams but making sure you have time for those around you. And if you are lucky enough to have a group like these five girls, you’re in very good hands.
Curl Power was seen during the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival. Thank you to Route504 PR for the screener.
