1 day ago
3
What do you know about Sally Ride? For American citizens of a certain age, science wonks, space geeks, and feminist historians, the easiest answer is the most obvious one: she was the first American woman astronaut to visit outer space. But while Ride’s life — at least, the professional aspects of it — pushed her into the spotlight and turned her into a public figure whose influence was previously unmatched, Ride went to great pains to conceal her most private secrets, desires, and even identity. Consider this: most people had no idea Ride was a lesbian, let alone one who had been in a committed relationship with her partner for decades, until her death in 2012, when it was mentioned in her official obituary.
This, it seems, was not someone eager to be known, and that’s the pickle documentarian Cristina Costantini finds herself in when it comes to her documentary “Sally.” How do you bring to the screen the life of someone who likely would have run from such a project? Costantini, a self-professed science nerd and lifelong Ride fan, attempts to make that a feature of her film, not a bug. Yes, Ride’s life was rife with tensions, both personal and professional. So how do we build a film around that? Carefully. Perhaps too carefully.
The doc combines both archival footage of Ride — the most impressive of which is culled from her time at NASA, a trove of crisp, thrilling insider looks at her training — and newly shot 16mm pieces that use actors to bring Ride and long-time partner Tam O’Shaughnessy to life in the moments they wouldn’t, or even couldn’t, record as they were happening. O’Shaughnessy herself provides some of the film’s voiceover narration, as does Ride, by way of old interviews re-contextualized in service to the relatively standard approach to telling a full life story.
The push-pull of Ride’s life was seemingly omnipresent, particularly after she joined the first class of potential NASA astronauts to welcome women and minorities (NASA Astronaut Group 8), by way of a handwritten application that touted her credentials and showed off her flair for self-promotion. One talking head shares that Ride definitely “liked being a golden girl” and her clearly competitive spirit is obvious from the start, but numerous interviews see her begging off her eventual title as the first American woman in space (or, even before she was picked for her mission, trying to wave off the possibility of it happening).
But Ride had been used to saying one thing and doing another for a long time before that. Ride and O’Shaughnessy actually met at pre-teens at tennis camp — O’Shaughnessy went on to play tennis professionally, and Billie Jean King, a mentor for both women, appears as part of a stellar and interesting assortment of talking heads — but even O’Shaughnessy didn’t realize Ride was a lesbian until years later, despite the fact that Ride’s college girlfriend, Molly Tyson (who also appears), was another one of their tennis pals.
When Ride and O’Shaughnessy renew their acquaintance after Ride’s NASA acceptance, O’Shaughnessy’s confusion over Ride’s desires is understandable: after all, she had married a fellow astronaut (Steven Hawley, also appearing in interviews), perhaps as a way to deflect some of the merciless press attention applied to her personal life. The press are just awful to Ride, only ever shown asking her prying questions about her womanhood and femininity, a reflection of the time that still stings. The baked-in sexism of NASA is also a prevalent theme, and one of the film’s most moving moments arrives in the final act, in which one of Ride’s self-professed “male sexist pig” cohorts finally recognizes the err of his ways in an open-hearted letter to O’Shaughnessy.
Perhaps, the scene tells us, some people could change. But could Ride?
“Sally” offers plenty of possible explanations for why Ride was the way she was, many of them rooted in her family life. To say her parents were emotionally closed-off is an understatement, and Ride’s mother even briefly appears to sit for an interview with Costantini, during which the very concept of sharing her feelings (again, about her dead famous daughter) offends her so deeply, the possibility she might walk out feels all too real. But even Ride’s sister Bear, who also came out as a lesbian, struggles to understand why Ride couldn’t put into words what was so clear to everyone else.
“Let Sally be Sally” eventually became something of a mantra for O’Shaughnessy, who was deeply pained by some of Ride’s reticence throughout their otherwise quite loving life together. But who was Sally? Who did she think she was? Who did she want us to see? “Sally” doesn’t quite answer those questions, but it certainly reaches for the stars in an earnest attempt to find them.
Grade: B
“Sally” premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
Want to stay up to date on IndieWire’s film reviews and critical thoughts? Subscribe here to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best new reviews and streaming picks along with some exclusive musings — all only available to subscribers.
English (US) ·