“Rousing… Mighty Mary vividly renders the athleticism and teamwork required to compete in a dangerous sport… These are cutthroat, often hilarious competitors. (Wait until you learn the name they bestow upon Mighty Mary’s lengthy rudder.) Gloriously, Mighty Mary includes footage of the old band getting back together for a sail off of Oyster Bay, N.Y. They let it rip like old times.” – Jason Gay, The Wall Street Journal
“The new documentary follows the groundbreaking all-female sailing team that challenged the America’s Cup establishment—and it’s every bit as thrilling as the best sports movies…. you’ll cheer, cry, and rage right alongside these incredible athletes as the drama unfolds. If you loved Remember the Titans and A League of Their Own, you’ll want to snag a ticket to this film.” — Jesse van Amburg, Oprah Daily
“Across more than 25 years of documentary filmmaking, director, writer, and producer Mary Mazzio has been committed to telling stories about people shattering glass ceilings and succeeding in spaces that were never designed to welcome them… Mazzio’s films show us what it looks like when disenfranchised groups of people test their limits despite the odds being stacked against them…Ultimately, the team’s campaign was groundbreaking not because it erased the barriers around the America’s Cup, but because it made those barriers impossible to ignore.” — Sofia Bianchi, ELLE
“My mother used to say, ‘You have one day to cry and then get up and get back to the plate…. we don’t encourage that as a society. I feel like the movie is like, ‘You can cry, but get back up because amazing things can happen when you dare to defy what people think you can’t do.’” — Mary Mazzio to Lindsay Kimble, PEOPLE Magazine
“Awe-inspiring…Mary Mazzio, thank you for making this film…” – Huma Abedin to Mighty Mary director Mary Mazzio, Morning Joe
“Had the pleasure of narrating Mighty Mary along with Elizabeth Banks. Mary Mazzio, you’re a force!” — Hugh Jackman, Instagram
“Mighty Mary is full of magic…I would watch it on repeat every day. You need to bust through a wall! Pop this documentary on!” – Erica L. Ayala, We Need to Talk – CBSRadio
“The film is incredible…” — Sandra Smith, America Reports
“An edge of your seat blast…one of the most thrilling sports documentaries you’re likely to see, particularly because the story of a group of ragtag, highly skilled underdogs seems like the kind of thing Hollywood probably should make into a narrative feature. (It’s easy to imagine every major Hollywood actress jockeying to play one of these real-life heroes – you are almost casting it as you watch.)” — Drew Taylor, The Wrap
“You’re left inspired by this documentary, and also mad as a hornet’s nest.” — Cory Woodroof, USAToday
“All of us are standing on the shoulders of giants… everything I care about was part of this story… it’s so exciting.” – Elizabeth Banks, Welcome to the Party
“The fact that the spirit of these athletes hasn’t changed makes the split-screen of the slightly pixelated archive footage, bless it, and modern footage shot by co-cinematographer Peter Levy and a mighty camera team (with Mazzio herself shooting some Super8 footage from inside the boats) really sing. Mighty Mary positions the audience to see two different kinds of image but to feel a secret third thing: the drive and the exhilaration of competing that’s universal to athletes, regardless of gender.” — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire
“Such a love letter to teamwork.” – Adriana Diaz, CBS Saturday Morning
“It’s the most captivating film of 2026 – period – and in my opinion, the finest documentary ever filmed about the America’s Cup.” – Magnus Wheatley, Rule 69
“For so long, women, especially women in sports, have been underestimated and dismissed and told a hundred different ways that they don’t belong. But these women f*cking competed anyways. And let that be the f*cking lesson, you know. And let’s tie that on a bow… to all of our listeners and those watching, you got to see this documentary. It’s magical. ” – Ashlyn Harris, Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris
“You can dream and do something ridiculous and impossible, and swallow your fear – not get rid of your fear, but just say, ‘Let me try. And if I fail, so what?’” — Mary Mazzio to Dade Hayes, Deadline
“I’m proud to be a part of this powerful documentary that shines a light on the extraordinary courage of the women aboard Mighty Mary. This team was groundbreaking, and I hope their story inspires a new generation of women to dream bigger and never give up.” – Elizabeth Banks, People Magazine
“This film is about defying what might seem impossible…” – Matt Juul, The Boston Globe
“There were people that said, it’s a fluke. There were people that thought it was a publicity stunt — but we always believed.”— JJ Fetter to Madeleine Kashkooli, San Diego Union Tribune
“Having seen just about every sailing film ever made, Mighty Mary is one of the absolute best…’ll admit to cracking a grin when I heard veteran male sailors describing how they were downright gob smacked by the volume and creativity of colorful language that the women employed. Sailors will be sailors.” — David Schmidt, Sail-World
“With breathtaking video footage and new interviews about one of the most controversial, competitive, shocking and heartbreaking sailing battles in history…Mighty Mary is an action-packed 98-minute time capsule by director Mary Mazzio.” — Phoebe Wall Howard, Shifting Gears Phoebe Wall Howard
“Mighty Mary is a well-assembled, confident piece of non-fiction filmmaking…the value of the story she’s telling, and the clear warmth she engendered with her interview subjects, make this one a winner.” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
“What a full circle moment for the institution of the Cup that has, in the past, been stubbornly resistant to change. To have the America’s Cup celebrate the legacy of this all-women’s team, it’s magical, and what’s been so exciting is their story, which has been…kind of lost to the dustbin of history, and is now going to ripple out for generations. That is unbelievably exciting.” — Mary Mazzio before the screening of Mighty Mary in Naples, Italy, AmericasCup.com.
“Another brilliant achievement from Mazzio” — Jim Braude, Boston Public Radio
“In 1995, a team of women rocked the male-dominated competitive sailing scene. The documentary revives the story of the Cinderella campaign. ” — Desiree Luo, San Francisco Chronicle
“Following the highs and lows of the almost unbelievable journey, the Mighty Mary documentary inspires everyone from young girls to the crew members themselves, reminding them of what they accomplished.” – Alexis Beckett, WCVB Channel 5
“Mighty Mary hit theaters nationwide on September 11, and we couldn’t recommend it more. It’s engaging, funny, and deeply moving, with a crew that makes you care about a sport you may never have watched before. We went in wanting to see the crew prove everyone wrong and left thinking about how many women would get to go further because they went first.” – Sportsish
“I really loved the movie.” — Sarah Spain, Good Game with Sarah Spain
“A powerhouse.” — Tashanea Whitlow, FOX 5 New York
“A remarkable journey.” — Women In Entertainment
“Mighty Mary, narrated by Elizabeth Banks and Hugh Jackman, is an exhilarating, captivating, inspirational and well-edited documentary… it will make you stand up and cheer…” – Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
“I watched this and it’s incredible…incredibly well done.” — Hannah Donnelly, HUB Today
“What is it about Mighty Mary? I quit documentaries the way some people quit smoking…So when I tell you that Mighty Mary got me, and got me good, understand that I had to climb over a decade of my own indifference to do it.” —Troy Anderson, AndersonVision.com
“It’s an eye-opening historical account seamlessly blended with an inspirational, edge-of-your-seat, crowd-pleasing sports drama, with many twists and turns right through its shocking ending….a nail-biting underdog drama.” — Loren King, Newport This Week
“Carey couldn’t recall exactly when during the experience she realized her Mighty Mary team had a real chance to win. Thinking about it, maybe it was from the second they arrived in San Diego to compete. The doubt of others is a deep well. Athletes have drawn from it for motivation for centuries. It came down to this: Carey and her teammates knew they could race the boat. If you didn’t believe it, that wasn’t their problem.” — Travis Lazarcyzk, Portland Press Herald
“Pioneering…” — Laurie Schreiber, MaineBiz
“This was not a ladies’ sailing outing with matching visors. This was elite competition.” — Mary Wadland, ZEBRA
“The Nantucket Film Festival served as the launching pad for the documentary Mighty Mary, Mary Mazzio’s documentary portrait of the first all-women’s sailing team to compete for the sport’s world-famous America’s Cup. Narrated by Hugh Jackman and Elizabeth Banks, the film received the Maria Mitchell Visionary Award presented to a female filmmaker who demonstrates vision and innovation.” – Ethan Alter, Gold Derby
“Thirty years ago, a defender trial in San Diego produced a result few expected. The women of Mighty Mary beat Dennis Conner in a race that should have eliminated him from the America’s Cup. The result stood. Its consequence did not.” — Kirsten Thomas, Boating New Zealand
“Mazzio brings an authentic athletic lens to the project, supported by a creative crew including directors of photography Peter Levy and Patrick Ruth. The production features editing by Kyle Farmer, Mazzio, and Shondra Burke, with original music composed by Shep Crawford.” – Manoj Chekkilla, Yahoo Entertainment
Mighty Mary, sailing into theaters starting in September, narrated by Elizabeth Banks and Hugh Jackman, directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker (and Olympian) Mary Mazzio, the film is a riveting, heart-racing documentary about the first-ever all women’s sailing crew to contend for the famed America’s Cup in 1995. This inspiring project is a story about a team of unlikely people who came together to achieve the unthinkable and do the impossible, breaking boundaries and rewriting the her story of women’s sports forever.” – Alex Billington, First Showing
“A deeply important story.” — Alex Berger, NBC News10
Republic Pictures has picked up the Hugh Jackman and Elizabeth Banks narrated documentary Mighty Mary from award-winning filmmaker and Olympian Mary Mazzio and Skydance Sports. “Some stories demand to be told — and Mighty Mary is one of them. We are honored to partner with Mary Mazzio, Allison Abner, Grant Hill and Skydance Sports in bringing this film to audiences,” said Sejin Croninger, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Acquisitions, Paramount Pictures. “It is at once a breathtaking sports documentary and a testament to the women who refused to let the boundaries of their sport define them.” – Deadline
“A must watch documentary.” — Milly Karsten, Sailing Today
“Mary Mazzio’s Mighty Mary, highlighting the story of the first all-women’s sailing team to contend for the famed America’s Cup, took home the Maria Mitchell Visionary Award, presented to a female filmmaker who demonstrates vision and innovation. All feature films written, produced, and/or directed by women are eligible for this prize.” — Clarence Moye, The Contending
“Many of the men from the Dennis Conner-led Stars & Stripes (one of the two boats Mighty Mary was competing against to represent America in the race), who had won three prior America’s Cups in the 1980s, freely admit they were initially dismissive of the all-women’s team, but ultimately were awed by Mighty Mary and her crew.” — Tom Meek, Cambridge Day
“Like a novel! The story of Mighty Mary and the strange case of a revolutionary past.” – Francesca Frazza, Saily
“The film is definitely sparking some great discussions about where we are now and how to move forward. For me, one truth definitely hasn’t changed in thirty years: I just want to be seen—and in charge of my own life decisions. That America³ tryout taught me a ton about both myself and the world, and I’m very grateful to the creators of a movie that brought back so many mighty memories…” — Carol Newman Cronin, Where Books Meet Boats
“A Georgetown Law graduate and former Olympic rower who competed for the United States in the 1992 Olympics, Mazzio has long been drawn to stories that intersect elite competition with broader social issues.” – Scuttlebutt Sailing News
“America’s Cup campaign reaches big screen…” — Tyler Callister, The Ark
