Athlete A

"Was winning worth the cost?"

2020 1h 45m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 294

Documentary

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Follow the Indianapolis Star reporters that broke the story about USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar's abuse and hear from gymnasts.

“Was winning worth the cost?”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Maggie Nichols
Self - Gymnast
Jamie Dantzscher
Self
Mark Alesia
Self - Investigations Reporter, The Indianapolis Star
Rachael Denhollander
Self
Géza Poszar
Self - Karolyi Choreographer
Tracee Talavera
Self - USA Olympic Team 1984
Jennifer Sey
Self

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bonni Cohen
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 6 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bonni Cohen, shot by Jon Shenk. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jeff Beal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Don Bernier shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Maggie Nichols and Jamie Dantzscher and Mark Alesia carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Was winning worth the cost?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt11905462 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bonni Cohen directs. Jon Shenk behind the camera. Jeff Beal scores. Don Bernier cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 6 years ago.
2Directed by Bonni Cohen, shot by Jon Shenk. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Jeff Beal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Don Bernier shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Maggie Nichols and Jamie Dantzscher and Mark Alesia carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Was winning worth the cost?".
7IMDB entry: tt11905462 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jon Shenk
Original score: Jeff Beal
Editing: Don Bernier
Sound: Pete Horner
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Athlete A (2020)

Also by

Bonni Cohen

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

SierraKiloBravo2020-07-06
★ 10/10
Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/2tJNodcM1ws If you've watched or listened to enough of my work, you'll know that I have a love of sports like gymnastics, ice skating, and cheering. The gymnastics world was rocked a few years ago when news broke of a sexual abuse scandal within the USA Gymnastics organisation. The Netflix documentary Athlete A takes a look at the scandal and follows the victims and reporters through their process of exposing it. While it focuses mainly on the sexual abuse perpetrated by team doctor Larry Nassar, it also touches on the general toxic culture of USA Gymnastics, and the brutal training regimes put on gymnasts worldwide. This is a very frank look at what went on and looking at some of the training videos that Nassar made - with the benefit of hindsight of course - were truly creepy. It’s skin crawling stuff, and to think he did this to hundreds and hundreds of girls and young women through his career makes your skin crawl. I liked how the film-makers treated the victims with respect and gave them the space and time to say their pieces. The absolute highlight was in the devastating, but simultaneously uplifting and empowering moment toward the end of the film where the women who were abused got the chance to make their victim statements in the court, directly to Larry Nasser. They all take a massive, deserved crap on this guy, and the institutions that enabled him, and goddamn it's powerful to watch. As I mentioned before, the film also addresses the physical and emotional abuse that the athletes would go through. The threat of being off the team or not making it to Nationals, or the Olympics was always hanging over their heads. The documentary did a really good job of laying this out and how Nasser used this to manipulate his victims, and how the upper management used it to keep people quiet. Shocking stuff, which reminded me of the Catholic church and the Jehovah's Witnesses in many ways. The last really weird thing for me was that I remember a lot of the events in the archival footage. Like for example when Kerri Strug won gold in the vault on one leg in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, sure enough, there’s Nasser in the archival footage. It’s a documentary that offers a thorough glimpse into this world and while at times it’s hard to watch, there are moments that are very moving and overall it’s powerful stuff. If you have an interest in professional and top level sports, this should be one on your watchlist.
rsanek2022-10-07
★ 7/10
I missed the news stories regarding this when it came out so much of this was unknown to me. Truly wild how much damage one individual can do. Props to the women in this film for creating full lives even given that history, and for being brave enough to come forward to bring this guy to justice.