The Novice (2021)

College freshman pushes herself to the brink in order to excel. Though physics is her worst subject, she's decided to major in it -- seemingly because it's so difficult.

Despite having no experience in the sport, she joins the rowing team and throws herself into that training with the same heedless drive she applies to her studies. The toll her new obsession takes on her both mentally and physically seem like a drug to her: she just can't get enough of it and she's determined to rise to the top. Though her commitment is admirable, the "attack it relentlessly" technique that works for her in the classroom just doesn't apply here. Her fevered work ethic makes her alien to the rest of the rowers, which means that she can't be easily absorbed into their team. 

The struggle plays out almost like a thriller: I was scared both for her and those around her. My only complaint is that the final sequence is so frenetic that I didn't quite understand what occurred -- and my confusion was only amplified by the fact that her results were deliberately obscured.

B