Slamdance Film Festival 2025 – If you’ve never heard of racewalking, you’re probably not alone. It’s a long-distance foot race that’s actually an Olympic sport. Racewalkers, the narrative feature film, is a feel-good sports comedy about a washed-up professional baseball player who gets his life back on track through the niche sport.

Directed by Kevin Claydon and Phil Moniz, the film stars Claydon as Matt Mackenzie. At one point in his life, Matt should have been one of the stars of the MLB. However, his fate didn’t turn out that way. When the film opens, we find him coaching little league baseball and sleeping in his van. He’s dubbed “the first round bust” because his college athlete stardom never carried over to the MLB. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Ava (Italia Ricci) ditched him because he can’t get his life together. That changes, however, when, by unusual circumstances, he meets Moniz’s Will Lester. It turns out that Will is part of a sports club that coaches racewalkers who partake in the qualifying rounds to compete in the Olympics. Though Will’s coaching techniques are unorthodox, and though Matt may seem like the unlikeliest of candidates to transform into an Olympic athlete, the two forge a friendship. It also turns out that Matt is really, really good at racewalking.

Besides the familiar storyline about a guy down on his luck, there’s also the fact that Will is an outcast from his family because his coaching techniques are different. His Uncle Kurt (Greg Bryk) is a two-time Olympic athlete who won the bronze twice in the 1990s for racewalking. Determined to ensure his son Ched (Robbie Amell) makes it to the Olympics, Kurt hatches various diabolical plans to stop Matt’s momentum and sabotage his chances. Though this is a comedy, both Bryk and Amell play good villains, absurd as their characters are. They also help to drive the film’s tension and conflict, elevating it beyond a standard comedy.

The comedic beats certainly work throughout the feature, and that’s a credit to Claydon, Moniz, and Evan M. Landry‘s script. This is a well-written film, though slightly a bit predictable at times. Beyond that, the interpersonal relationships within the film, especially some of the rivalries and friendships, are quite well-drawn. Meanwhile, this is very much a film about oddballs who find community in racewalking. This is certainly  true of Matt and Will, who have to contend with Ched and Kurt’s elitism. There’s also the point that Will is a little person who says, more than once, that he loves coaching because he can’t actually racewalk enough to compete. Watching him form such a bond with Matt is heartwarming, without being cheesy.

Racewalkers may be a sports comedy, but it’s about a very niche sport. More importantly, this is a movie about and for oddballs and outcasts. The laughs certainly land, while the film gives us two protagonists in Matt and Will that are worth cheering on at the finish line. This is an endearing indie film with spirit and heart.