Strength beyond the field

Visually, one of the film’s most pointed moments comes when the girl’s bike is stolen, forcing her to keep going anyway. Edwards said that the decision was not random. It came from his own experience adjusting to Philadelphia after moving from Utah, where he was a videographer/editor for the NBA’s Jazz.

“My car got stolen on my birthday, two months later,” he said. “They found it. Four months later, it got stolen again. This time they totaled it.”

When he wrote the script, Edwards said he did not want resilience to be stated plainly. He wanted it demonstrated.

“I don’t want to just hear her say, ‘I have strength, I have resilience.’ I want to show, not tell,” he said. “What more says strength and resilience than getting your bike stolen and running all the way home?”

Watson-Johnson said that scene was also one of the hardest to perform. “When I came out of the store, and my bike was stolen, I had to act really angry,” she said. “That emotion for me was really hard.”

The contrast highlights a core message of the film: The same traits celebrated in professional athletes, such as perseverance, discipline, and resilience, are lived out daily by ordinary people.

The film weaves football imagery with everyday life, drawing parallels between last-second plays on the field and last-minute pressure off it. “We all know what a Hail Mary looks like in football,” Edwards said. “But for her, the Hail Mary is a school project due at the last minute. Two seconds on the clock; she gets it done, and her class cheers.”

A production challenge that became part of the process

Ashur described one of the on-set challenges that shaped his performance. After filming Watson-Johnson’s coverage, the child actor had to leave, and the production still needed Ashur’s side of the scene.

“It was interesting doing the scene without anybody there,” he said. “It was more like, imagine someone is there.”

What he took from it was practical and professional. “Always be prepared,” Ashur said. “Don’t be afraid to have an imagination to try things.”

Edwards praised Ashur’s performance in that moment, saying he delivered strong takes despite the difficult setup. “Every performance, every take he would give when his scene partner isn’t there, that’s a true testament to his strength, his perseverance, and his focus on the project,” Edwards said.