Sally is what one would hope for from a Sundance Film Festival documentary. The festival is typically ripe with programming engaging in social commentary and highlighting diverse perspectives. And who better to highlight than the first female astronaut to adventure into space? The documentary is broad-sweeping in scope, discussing Sally Ride’s early life as a tennis player to becoming a NASA employee while trying to stay in the dark about who she loved.
If there is a consistent theme in Sally, it would be the idea of suppression. Throughout the retelling of Ride’s career, the role of identity plays into everyday fears. The fact that individuals like Ride had to pretend for years to be someone they were not for success, is maddening. Even so, the documentary shows how far we have come and how far we still have to move on learning to accept people.
Sally Ride’s story told in this Sundance 2025 documentary
Directed by Cristina Costantini, the film touches on many aspects of Sally Ride’s life, but at the heart of it is an endearing love story involving Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy. At the start, we see how a friendship begins when they both meet as tennis players. The documentary shows how O’Shaughnessy remained a constant rock for her through the years, even before she realized what they had was romantic.
Ride was an ambitious persona between the slices of friendship with O’Shaughnessy. The documentary then explores the heavy burden of being one of the first female candidates for NASA’s space program. We see how she had to wash away any sense of femininity, both off and in front of the cameras during interviews.
As mentioned in the documentary, the only way for most women astronauts to blend in was to act like “one of the guys.” This meant avoiding dresses, girl topics, or discussions about any future potential dreams of being a mother. At one point in the documentary, we see Sally push back reflexively when an interviewer tries to ask about subjects of parental aspirations or gender-related topics.
LGBTQ+ lives and the fear of being true to who you are
It’s not intentional, but the one consistent theme in most of our Sundance viewing this year has been stories about people being scared to be themselves out in public. Rains Over Babel, for example, highlighted a heartbreaking story of a transgender individual fighting a war between what his pastor father expects of him and what he feels like inside. The same is true with Sally, and the love story embedded throughout the amazing astronaut’s life. She spent most of her time in this beautiful, heartwarming relationship for years, but society conditioned Sally Ride to stay in the shadows instead of being proud of their relationship.
Even more tragic, various friends in the documentary exclaim their wish that she had come forward. The tragedy of it all is the documentary shows many might have been more accepting than she anticipated. But for the most part, many did not know about the unconditional love between O’Shaughnessy and Ride until her last moments in life.
A timely and inspiring story about Sally Ride, a brilliant woman of the stars
The documentary from Nat Geo is more polished than most offerings at Sundance. It’s less indie or scrappy, which can be an endearing quality for some Sundance films. However, given the state of the country, where military members are being told to disregard their own identities, Sally powerfully communicates the generational battle individuals of the LGTBQ+ community face, and how much nothing has changed culturally in 40 years. It’s stories like Sally Ride’s that need to be told to remind everyone about the humanity in all of us.
Above all else, Costantini has made a documentary that honors the legacy of one of the greatest minds ever to live. It demonstrates what she did for women everywhere, not just breaking the ceiling but flying a rocket straight through it. The documentary also feels incredibly romantic, showing the long, amazing love story between Ride and O’Shaughnessy and how a friendship can evolve into something far greater than any galaxy.
Sally is a tender examination of an ambitious, brilliant woman who could never wear her heart openly. But thanks to the documentary, Sally Ride’s love story with Tam O’Shaughnessy is immortalized for the world.
Be on the lookout for more reviews from Sundance Film Festival coming soon to The Cosmic Circus. In the meantime, visit our YoutTube channel for more ongoing coverage.
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