Maidentrip

An instantly and enduringly compelling documentary.

Director Jillian Schlesinger’s documentary does a terrific job countering everyone’s assumptions. Maidentrip is a clear-eyed chronicle of Dekker’s record-breaking voyage. Think “All Is Lost,” but real, and with a teenage girl instead of Robert Redford (plus a very different ending).

Some have compared Maidentrip to a young female version of Robert Redford's "All Is Lost". But in Dekker's case, all seems to be found.

A coming-of-age journey of self-realization, made immensely more involving by virtue of being seen through its subject's first-person perspective.

Dekker knows who she is, what she wants to do, and how to get it done, and Maidentrip wisely sails off the tailwinds of her confidence and boundless curiosity.

After 519 days at sea, Dekker finally achieves her goal...and decides to keep sailing, only this time with a hunky boy as her mate. If I were her parents, I wouldn't have signed off on that, either.

Schlesinger seems in such a rush to guide us to the end unscathed that she sometimes loses sight of the small details that make this journey unique.