Taglines: Be happy.
Next Goal Wins movie storyline. Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, and Oscar Kightley star in Taika Waititi’s comedy about the American Samoa soccer team’s attempt to make a World Cup — 12 years after their infamous 31-0 loss in a 2002 World Cup qualifying match.
Whip-smart, playful, and deeply rooted in Asia-Pacific culture, Taika Waititi is the perfect filmmaker to adapt the unlikely true story of Next Goal Wins. Last at the Festival in 2019 with Jojo Rabbit, which won TIFF’s People’s Choice Award before scoring the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Waititi brings his irresistible mix of big emotion and hilarity to tell the tale of a soccer team best known for being absolutely hopeless.
The tiny nation of American Samoa (population 45,000) was never going to be an international football powerhouse, but a 31-0 loss to Australia put them in the record books in the worst possible way. Dutch-American manager Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) lands in the slow-paced island community determined to inject footballing discipline into the team as they make a qualifying run for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
But even if the outcome — chronicled in a documentary by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison — is known, the pleasure comes from watching the characters on the pitch, Indigenous Samoan players who mostly sucked, mostly knew it, and still played their hearts out.
Fassbender is the star here, in a rare comic turn, but the discovery is Kaimana, who plays real-life team member Jaiyah. Like Jaiyah, Kaimana is a member of American Samoa’s fa’afafine or non-binary community and delivers a performance that’s warm, deep, and commanding in every scene.
Like Eagle vs. Shark, Boy, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Next Goal Wins is rich with both Waititi’s sideways humour, and his embrace of the weird, vulnerable, and unpredictable in all of us. The storyline includes fa’afafine player Jaiyah Saelua, who was the first transgender player ever to compete in a World Cup game.
The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2023, prior to its commercial release on November 17, 2023. The film was originally set to be released on April 21, 2023, before being postponed to September 22, 2023, and then to its current date.
Next Goal Wins is a biographical sports comedy-drama film directed by Taika Waititi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Iain Morris. The film is based on the 2014 documentary of the same name by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison about Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen’s efforts to lead the American Samoa national football team, considered one of the weakest football teams in the world, to qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
It stars Elisabeth Moss, Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale and Will Arnett. Filming began in Honolulu in November 2019. The film is scheduled to premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, prior to its commercial release on November 17, 2023, by Searchlight Pictures.
Next Goal Wins (2023)
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Will Arnett, Chris Alosio as Jonah, Ioane Goodhue as Smiley, Rhys Darby
Screenplay by: Waititi, Iain Morris
Production Design by: Ra Vincent
Cinematography by: Lachlan Milne
Film Editing by: Nat Sanders
Costume Design by: Miyako Bellizzi
Set Decoration by: Katrin Chong, Taylor Jean
Art Direction by: Peter Borck, Frances Lynn Hernandez
Music by: Michael Giacchino
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some strong language and crude material.
Distributed by: Searchlight Pictures
Release Date: September 10, 2023 (TIFF), November 17, 2023 (United States)
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