20/03/2024 - Several fascinating stories intersect and intertwine in Torquil Jones' very engaging doc that raises valuable questions about our definitions of happiness and success

Dominique Moceanu (left) and Jen Bricker (right) as children

The story of a woman born without legs would be fascinating on its own, as would that of a young olympic gymnast. Torquil Jones’ She Looks Like Me, which had its premiere at SXSW, has both. The former is Jen Bricker, abandoned at the hospital by her biological parents before she was adopted into a very happy and supportive family that never made her feel like she couldn’t do exactly what she wanted. Jen — who appears on camera in talking head interviews, as do her parents among other people — grew up trying out every sport she could find, and the film includes impressive home video footage of her doing acrobatics as a child. One of her major inspirations back then was Dominique Moceanu, a young gymnast who, at 14 in 1996, became the youngest Olympic gold medalist in U.S. gymnastics history. On top of her acrobatic prowess, Dominique was also important to Jen because the two young girls looked a lot alike. 

It is easy to guess why that is: Jen is Dominique’s sister. Much less obvious, and a lot more interesting, are the lives of these two women beyond the superficial facts of their resemblance and their shared talent for sports. She Looks Like Me is fascinating not so much for its subjects as for its perspective: although the initial hook is an opportunity to compare and contrast the lives of two remarkably similar people, the film ultimately proves that individuals are not merely defined by their circumstances, but by the choices they make when facing those circumstances, whatever they might be.

Not just that: in centering on both a disabled woman and a non-disabled woman, both of whom are capable of doing amazing things with their bodies, the film also throws into question our commonly accepted definitions of ability, happiness, and accomplishment. Slickly assembled, with subject testimonies supported by tasteful and atmospheric reconstructions, the film begins with Jen’s story and adopts her perspective as she observes the exploits of her idol Dominique on television. The young gymnast appears incredibly graceful and strong, and her abilities make her the envy of anyone seeing her compete. It is only when the film switches to Dominique’s story that we begin to glimpse the much more complex and painful reality behind this image of success. Dominique was under extreme pressure from her ambitious parents, immigrants from Romania, and from her trainer, Béla Károlyi, working to the point of injury and essentially stripped of a childhood. Later, she would go to court to gain emancipation from her parents, claiming that they abused and exploited her. In 2017, she was one of the gymnasts who testified against doctor and physician Larry Nasser. Although Jen might initially appear like the less lucky girl of the two, the fact is that she had a very happy childhood, while as a teen Dominique was hurting physically and mentally, even contemplating suicide. 

Director Torquil Jones has a light touch over material that could have been framed in a much more explosive and sensationalistic manner. The crucial role played by a supportive environment, the different ways of encouraging and supporting children, the place of fun and play in competitive sport — rather than spoon feed these concepts to the audience, the film thankfully gives us the time and space to ponder them ourselves, during the film and long after the credits have rolled. This hands-off approach also pays off in another way in the later parts of the story when, rather than focus on the visible parallels and differences between the two sisters, the film instead shows that what truly brings them together is their desire to be free — something we hopefully all aspire to.

She Looks Like Me was produced by Noah Media Group (UK).