Documentary about Maya Gabeira’s record-breaking feats almost accidentally tells a story too about the endemic sexism in sport

This film is ostensibly about Maya Gabeira, a Brazilian competitive big-wave surfer (ie towed on special boards into waves of 20ft and over), and her struggle to compete again after a devastating injury in 2013. And yes, it certainly is about her, but it’s almost as if everyone involved – Gabeira, people who were supposedly her closest associates, and even the director Stephanie Johnes – aren’t quite conscious of the fact that they’re also making a documentary about endemic sexism in sport. You can almost see awareness of that latter theme coming to mind in the last half of the film, when Maya goes to battle with the organisation that’s meant to champion athletes in her field but which seemingly closes ranks against her lest her achievement makes that of her male peers seem less impressive. To explain further risks spoiling the film, which transcends its by-numbers sports doc set-up and evolves into something more thoughtful.

In fact, it’s kind of a disappointment that Johnes, whose previous credits include several other sports docs as well as work with muckraking film-maker Alex Gibney, doesn’t lean harder into a feminist perspective. Maybe that’s not something Gabeira actually wanted; she is a woman who comes across as easygoing, forgiving and, in the early runnings, seemingly happy to be made famous not just for her surfing prowess but also for the good looks that made her such a promotable figure in the sport. Even former sporting partner Carlos Burle, a surfer himself who operated the jet ski that towed Gabeira to the waves in the early part of her career, is seen here praising how she had “nice tits” and a “nice ass”, as a montage of surf magazine covers fly by, all featuring Gabeira in a bikini.