'All American' Review: Documentary Filled with Grit, Grace, and Girl Power
- Romey Norton
- 2 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Romey Norton - November 13, 2025
Film - Documentary
Mark Andrew Altschul’s All American is a compelling and deeply human documentary. With warmth, honesty, and an unflinching eye, Altschul follows three high school women wrestlers as they grapple, literally and figuratively, with what it means to chase their dreams in a sport still learning to make space for them.
Breaking Barriers in a Male-Dominated Sport
Over the course of five years, All American traces the personal and athletic journeys of Naomi, Jojo, and Arham, who each come from vastly different backgrounds but are united by a shared passion for wrestling. We watch them navigate adolescence, gender expectations, and cultural pressures, all while training, sweating, and competing in gymnasiums that still echo with the voices of boys who once had the mat to themselves.
One of the wrestlers, who is from Dominica, moved to the US in 2014, and whilst her family is supportive, she discusses the pressure of being someone whose family moved them to another country for a better life. She says how her family stated that wrestling is a “violent sport that only men can do,” and in proving them wrong, she’s hoping she can change this view and the culture built around these types of views. All the girls' experiences revolve around this sexist stereotype and proving that women do belong on the mat and can wrestle.
From Stereotypes to Strength
We also hear from a previous female world champion and her experiences growing up and navigating the sport. Whilst the views around women in wrestling are progressing and we are in a better place where women in male-dominated sports are being listened to, watched, and respected, we still have a long way to go. For example, in 1991, in a female wrestling competition, the winner was rewarded with a frying pan instead of a trophy, and the wrestler of the year was given to the prettiest wrestler, who was rewarded with a tiara. And today, there are still many states in the US that sanction female wrestling, including New York.
There’s a great section where we see mixed gender wrestling, and how some men refuse to wrestle women is interesting but heart-breaking. Men would rather forfeit and technically lose than wrestle a woman. Then, an example where a man was so afraid to lose, he did an illegal move and snapped a woman's collarbone. This speaks volumes about how men are viewed and built in this sport, and this needs to change.
As documentaries go, this one is filled with footage of wrestling, interviews with professionals, including their coach, and family members. The coach guides viewers through the sport, so we don’t confuse it with the popular WWE, and her work with the girls. The families are honest about their opinions, and it's refreshing, even when we hear that they don't fully support and might have held someone back. There’s that gritty truth where sometimes you have to choose between family values and ambition. The pace is strong, information is heavy but easy to understand and follow, and the emotions are high. The one-hour and thirty-minute runtime goes by so quickly, and I wanted to watch more. Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders? Yes, I want a series on female wrestlers in America.
If there’s a critique to be made, it’s that All American occasionally spreads itself thin in trying to give each of its three protagonists equal narrative weight. A tighter focus on one or two might have yielded greater emotional depth. Still, the film’s ambition to showcase the diversity of female athletic experience is admirable and largely successful.
Final Thoughts: Wrestling for Recognition
Ultimately, All American is a film that honours the physical grind of wrestling and the power and determination behind change. Altschul’s camera doesn’t just observe, it listens. And what it hears is the sound of a new generation rewriting the rulebook. The film ends with the statistic that in 2025, the NCAA voted to make women's wrestling an official sport, with 206 American colleges having women's wrestling programs.
“Women's wrestling is a sport, it’s a movement.” That’s the tagline that should accompany All American, because the film is about more than sports. It’s about identity, inclusion, and the ongoing redefinition of the American Dream.
'All American' is available now to buy or rent on digital platforms.
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