The three-part documentary series demonstrates that, especially in the United States, there is already a great deal of enthusiasm for women’s professional soccer.

Image credits: Will Navarro/Angel City Football Club/HBO

In fact, actress Natalie Portman doesn’t really care much about sports, which she laughs in the first episode of Angel City. However, as of 2020, she is heavily involved in the creation of the Los Angeles Women’s Soccer Association. In previous years, Portman was saddened to see that female professional soccer players had to tip in terms of income compared to their male colleagues. Broadcasting rights yielded nothing, as did advertising and sponsorship income. Accompanied by a group of female entrepreneurs (including investors Kara Nortmann and Julie Orman) and celebrities (Serena Williams and Eva Longoria), the actress decided to change this world from the inside out.

Documentary filmmaker Arlene Nelson closely follows how the women try to find the right pitch, the right coach and the right staff. Then there are the top footballers, whose salary, remarkably, consists of a percentage of receipts. This makes them jointly responsible for high or low participation in matches. And Angel City has big ambitions: the club wants to attract 20,000 spectators to every match. Sports experts are skeptical, but if you look at the numbers from last season, you’ll see that it nearly reached that rate. However, their other goal, to reach the playoffs, was not achieved.

But the club is completely new and next season there will be new opportunities. Above all, Portman and his teammates demonstrated that there is enthusiasm for women’s professional soccer. In a poignant way, a female supporter tells the camera that she’s been having to travel around the country with her boyfriend to watch top-level women’s football (in the form of international matches). Now she can just buy a ticket in Los Angeles around the corner. This euphoria Angel City In short: women who jointly implement a plan that benefits other women. As a viewer, you must admit that Nelson pours all this into a rather salty documentary with many boring interviews.

Angel City, starting Wednesday, May 17, 2023 on HBO Max