“I wish I had this when I was a kid.”
This is a memorable refrain from my wife after we view stories about amazing women who never had their opportunity to be properly in the spotlight. This can be due to either a malicious burying of information or an oblivious belief that such events were not worth sharing, but it speaks to the larger power of film to not only entertain and inform, but also inspire. Things have been on a general upswing over the last decade or so—at least when the pendulum is swinging in the direction where society has decided they do not completely hate women. Stories as varied as Hidden Figures, Big Eyes, and The Woman King have captivated on the narrative side with multifaceted portrayals of real-life women, while documentaries have exploded with portraits like Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, Sirens, and the new Sundance effort Jane Elliott Against the World. It is refreshing to say these are only the tip of the iceberg, which is not something you could have confidently said pre-2010.
This leads us to the new Netflix-backed documentary Queen of Chess from award-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy. We have to assume the popularity of Queen’s Gambit many years ago had at least some influence on this film being made, but the subject is so incredible that it feels like a story that was demanding to be told. Judit Polgár may be a name you know if you are deep into the world of chess, but you would be forgiven if you draw a blank otherwise. This Hungarian prodigy was molded—along with her sisters—by her father to eat, sleep, and breathe chess. The fact that the focus was chess is somewhat beside the point, as the patriarch was simply focused on conducting his own “experiment” to raise geniuses. He was a harsh man living under an even harsher regime, but, for better or worse, he got results.
By the age of 12, Judit was already the best female chess player in the world, and in 1991, she broke a record held by Bobby Fischer to become the youngest player to achieve the title of Grandmaster, at the age of 15 years and 4 months. The movie does a good job of showing you that Judit was up against obstacles every step of the way because of her gender. Hungary was a totalitarian nation that essentially had to be pressured into letting the Polgár children leave the country, only to embrace them when they realized that their talents could reflect favorably upon the homeland. Once out of the country, they were not treated that much better due to everyone believing women were intellectually inferior to men, an assertion that the film gleefully takes down with match after match of men being smacked down by Judit. The refusal of many of these sore losers to even shake her hand out of respect is infuriating and heartbreaking.
The mixture of modern talking head interviews with archival footage is standard play for the art form, but it works pretty well for what it is trying to accomplish. The Judit of today is able to give her younger self, that we see in the amazing footage, the voice that we rarely see her use at the time. The most thrilling example of this, and the best sequence of the movie, is her first controversial match against Garry Kasparov, one of the greatest chess players of all time. An alleged illegal move on the part of Kasparov is broken down like the Zapruder film, and Judit takes us through all of the emotions of the moment. Kasparov similarly weighs in from the current day, and while they are never in the same room, it is fun to observe them still sparring about the moment after all these years.
Rory Kennedy does bring some artistic flair to the proceedings with flashy, creative editing transitions and feminine punk rock needle drops, but the whole experience feels part of a template meant to satisfy the largest mainstream audience. This is the type of story that we desperately want to hear about, but the film never feels like it pierces much beyond the surface. The issue of sexism is a prominent talking point throughout, but even modern moments with Kasparov in which he seems to admire Judit are laced with casual misogyny that is left to linger in the air. More grievously, there are assertions of child abuse perpetrated by Judit’s father due to the way he forced his children to give up everything in pursuit of his idea of “greatness.” He does appear on camera, separately from Judit and her sisters, and these issues are brought up. Yet, there is a hesitancy from all involved to really examine the deeper emotions at play, leaving this merely a good documentary instead of a great one.
Judit Polgár is one of a seemingly endless line of women whose stories should be told to the masses. Whether it was through her own determination or the urging of a tyrannical parent, she accomplished something truly astounding that should be admired. The presentation is conventional, but you cannot dismiss a documentary that celebrates such a force of nature. Judit broke down barriers and proved so many ignorant people wrong along the way. While it may be too late for some to internalize this during their formative years, it is rewarding to have this inspirational portrait for generations to come.
Queen of Chess had its World Premiere in the Premieres section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. The film is now available to stream exclusively on Netflix.
Director: Rory Kennedy
Rated: TV-PG
Runtime: 93m
While it may be too late for some to internalize this during their formative years, it is rewarding to have this inspirational portrait for generations to come.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
