Angel City (now on HBO Max) is a three-part documentary series following the inception of Angel City FC, a National Women’s Soccer League expansion team that aimed to smash many long-held standards in pro sports by being a majority female-owned team, offering competitive wages and pledging not to cut or trade its players. The goal was, per co-owner Natalie Portman, to make players feel “safe and valued,” to “try and change something” and to “fight for respect” in a world that doesn’t value women’s sports like it does men’s. The series gets into the nitty-gritty of what it takes not only to launch a pro soccer club from scratch, but to create new norms and stir interest and excitement in the competition – and that latter point is pretty much why this three-part doc exists.
Opening Shot: A slo-mo shot of fans waving a flag in the stadium where Angel City plays.
The Gist: Here’s Natalie Portman, outside the usual context we see her in: In front of a crowd, firing them up to watch a soccer game. “I never thought I’d have anything to do with pro sports,” she says in an interview, adding that it’s been “one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.” But here she is, on the ground floor of a whole new deal where she and a handful of other high-profile celebs – Eva Longoria, Jessica Chastain, Serena Williams, Mia Hamm, America Ferrara and Jennifer Garner among them – roped in former women’s soccer stars and experienced female entrepreneurs to form an ownership cohort and establish Angel City FC. The idea germinated in 2018, and was an uphill climb, pitching the team to venues and sponsors, among them dozens and dozens of naysayers who insisted that a women’s soccer team could never, ever stir enough popular interest to fill a stadium in a city with so many other pro sports teams grasping for consumers’ dollars. Or make money. Or pay its staff and players the same salaries as men in similar positions.
Well, challenge accepted. There’s a key moment in the documentary that illustrates harsh reality: Upon her retirement, women’s soccer all-timer Abby Wambach was honored on a stage alongside Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning. And as she walked off, it wasn’t into a ring of glory like the two men next to her – it was into uncertainty. She’d won medals and championships and was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but had nothing financially to show for it. She was worried about finding a job and acquiring health insurance. And the idea that Angel City FC would improve the professional and personal lives of others like her? It seems too good to be true, but it’s feasible. So she got involved.
The documentary shifts from talking heads – often on video chats, as organizers worked through the Covid pandemic – to observational verite footage as the camera peers over the shoulders of women working their tails off to get this massive operation off the ground. We watch as a general manager and coach are hired, as the team lands rock-solid veteran players in the expansion draft and hands them all guaranteed contracts (something that rarely, rarely happens in pro sports for any gender) and a percentage of ticket sales (something that NEVER happens in pro sports, etc. etc.). There’s a countdown to the first game as the team works through setbacks and challenges on and off the field; the highest-profile co-owners use their status to rev people up about Angel City soccer; the league weathers an awful sexual abuse scandal. The team guts it out through a preseason tournament with four injured defensive players, and it’s rough going – three losses, one draw, zero wins, some heated arguments between coach Freya Coombe and sporting director Eniola Aluko. But they’re moving. Forward. Slowly.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The obvious answer here is Welcome to Wrexham, which chronicles how Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney fumble their way through their new ownership of a hapless soccer club.
Our Take: Angel City crams a lot into its first hour-long episode – enough so you wish it slowed down a step or two to clarify some of the substantive hows of this endeavor instead of emphasizing the emotional whys. But it does offer a fascinating glimpse at the inner workings of a shiny-new sports club busting ass to flip the table on the old way of doing things. It’s not all touchy-feely inspirational fodder – sure, these women want to be a motivational force, but they’re also transparent about their desire to make this a profitable enterprise. The implication being, if you treat your players well and make money, you’re beating the men at their own game. Such is the spirit of competition.
Portman is featured heavily in the series, as the promotional face of the club. She comes off smart, motivated and determined. There are no overt feminist overtures or lectures; the politics of all this remain in the subtext. By the end of the first episode, you’ll probably want to keep watching – and buy a ticket (or at least hunt down the broadcast info) to see what Angel City FC can do. It seems like fun and a noble cause, two things that rarely shake hands with each other. If that’s the goal of Angel City – educational promo – then mission accomplished.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: An action shot of a player kicking the ball right at the camera.
Sleeper Star: Defender Paige Nielsen reveals that she passed up a job at a bank with a six-figure salary to play for Angel City – then promptly suffers a blood clot that required significant surgery and physical therapy. Here’s hoping she makes a comeback in subsequent episodes.
Most Pilot-y Line: Christen Press: “This is proof-of-concept. This is proof that the business works. It’s proof that we’re not doing it just so your daughters have a role model.”
Our Call: Like any expansion team, Angel City struggles to put the ball in the net. But Angel City does its job well and stirs interest in what they’re doing off the field, which ultimately may be more important. STREAM IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.