Every athlete wants to know what it’s like to balance a ‘normal life’.
In Curl Power, we are introduced to the 4K Girls, five best friends who dream of winning the Canadian Junior Curling Championship. Over the course of their high school years, we watch as they balance their lives in competition with the natural pressures of youth. Coached by their former Olympian moms, the 4K Girls feel the intensity of competition yet also work hard to have active social lives as well.
Directed by Josephine Anderson, Curl Power isn’t so much about curling as it is about relationships. Following the 4K Girls over the course of their high school years, we watch as these young women grow and mature. Although it’s the ice that brought them together, their lives are more than curling. We are meant to sit with them outside the world of sports as often as we do in the heat of competition. In this way, Anderson’s film allows life (and time) to unravel at its own pace. Curl Power becomes somewhat of a quiet piece that becomes more thoughtful than the average ‘sports film’. What matters most about these young women is the totality of their lives and the piece that sports plays within it.
By taking this approach, Anderson’s film emphasizes the inter-generational relationships that empower them towards the future. With love and grace, Curl Power sits in the difficult moments as these young women are left dealing with significant issues within themselves. However, with several of their mothers involved in coaching, they also have ample opportunity for support systems from older women who have ‘been through it’. Conversations about issues such as body dysmorphia, depression and health problems become open spaces for older women who have dealt with these issues to show support. (In fact, we even spend time with one of the girls’ grandmothers, showcasing the impact that she has as well.) This is a space where the torch is being passed from one generation to the next, not only in terms of sports wisdom but also in terms of life skills. There is genuine care for their growth, both on the ice and off.
But, more than this, Anderson also celebrates their teenage experiences. In some moments, the film even uses colour and camera work to give their lives a dream-like quality. Even amidst the trials of youthfulness, Curl Power feels like a celebration of the years between childhood and adulthood, reminding the viewer how special these years can truly be in our lives. It is a time for challenge and change.
And it’s also a time for empowerment.
As a result, one of the key themes of this film seems to be the passage of time. As the 4K girls grow and mature, they also become increasingly self-reflective, especially for teenagers. To them, their experiences together have become the ‘good ole days’ that they wish could remain forever. (“I wish I could just freeze time,” we’re told.) For women so young, it’s rare to hear conversations yearning for what came before but we can see the impact that their time together has had upon them.
What makes Curl Power unique is the way that it genuinely cares about its subjects. By the time the credits roll, we don’t see the 4K girls as subjects to be studied so much as we see them as youth ready to take on the world. Without giving spoilers to what happens in competition, the world of curling remains a key building block to their lives but it doesn’t entirely define them. Instead, we cheer them on as they truly find the Power to do something special with the next chapter of their lives.
Curl Power is available in theatres on Friday, January 24th, 2025.
