Last Swim review | A tender, earnest examination of friendship

Share this Article:

Sasha Nathwani’s Last Swim captures a rare moment in time as a teenage girl and her friends wait for their A-level results. Here’s our review.

There’s a special kind of magic to a film that transports you to a special time in your own life. Finding something universal in common with a story takes it to another level, and this is what Last Swim, director and co-writer Sasha Nathwani’s feature debut, excels at. It takes place on the day that Ziba (Deba Hekmat) and her mates receive their A-level results. Ziba has planned a whole day for them, which includes grabbing the best sandwich in the world, a cheeky trip to Hampstead Heath and ending with a meteor shower.

In many ways, Last Swim is about a lot of lasts. It’s the last day of school, the last day of the summer and possibly the last time this group of friends will hang out and share a connection this close. They’re all off to different paths in life; Ziba is going to university to study astrophysics, while Tara (Lydia Fleming) wants to be a dancer. Malcolm (Denzel Baidoo) already has a steady future as a football player, but as we slowly find out, the future is never as certain as you think it will be.

Ziba isn’t well, you see. Nathwani – who co-writes with Helen Simmons – takes his time revealing exactly what is wrong with her, but the future is looking a little grim. Whereas her peers are on the edge of adulthood, finally being freed from the constraints of childhood and entering a phase in life with unprecedented freedom, Ziba is looking at a much more undetermined path.

It’s something most of us can relate to. The future, regardless of where you’re from, what path in life you’re taking, is almost always a little uncertain, a little scary. Nathwani treats it as such, but chooses to dwell on the friendships, valuing the moments these friends share, immortalising them in a way.

Last Swim is all about the vibes. It’s a film driven by a strong sense of finality, that this is the end of something rather than the beginning. Yet, the darker side of Last Swim is made softer by its sheer warmth. The connection between these young people is palpable and the cast perfectly emulates that easy, effortless link between friends.

Deba Hekmat is the film’s standout. Nathwani’s camera stays with her in almost every scene, often observing her face, seeing if she ever lets it show that she’s not well despite her best efforts to hide it from her friends. There’s a really disarming honesty and vulnerability to Hekmat’s performance.

If anything lets Last Swim down a little, it’s the script. Written by Nathwani and Helen Simmons, the script follows a familiar path, hitting all the usual marks of a film like this. The group smokes weed, gets some beers in and shares stories on a hill in London. The supporting characters, aside from Malcolm who also finds himself without a solid future, are drawn with broad strokes and the dialogue often states everything just as it is, rather than leave us filling in the gaps or reading between the lines.

Even with its flaws, though, Last Swim is a remarkable, sweet and profound feature from Nathwani.

Last Swim is in UK cinemas 4th April.