An Infuriating, Inspiring, Important Documentary For Way More Than Sports Fans

LFG on HBO Max begins with members of the US Women’s Soccer team explaining what LFG stands for: it’s Let’s Fucking Go. And after you watch this documentary about the team and their legal journey for equality — oh, while also winning major soccer tournaments, no big — you’ll be joining them in saying LFG for equal pay already.

From directors Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, the documentary film follows the team throughout 2019 and into 2020 as they raise awareness of the disparities between the men’s and women’s US Soccer teams, in the way they are treated, accommodated, and paid, and why they needed to file a gender discrimination lawsuit against their employer for a chance at making the money they deserve.

You should know that this documentary will make you mad as hell — that’s the point. Welcome to their world. Actually, welcome to THE world. Soccer is by no means the only industry guilty of paying women less for doing the same work that their male counterparts do. Or in the case of this team, paying the women less for accomplishing a whole lot more than their male counterparts.

Megan Rapino is unsurprisingly the star of this doc, a natural leader who is able to rally the troops, cry when she’s frustrated AF, and still deliver infuriating facts with a cool, casual, unapologetic ease. She’s just one of the women I immediately wanted to be best friends with, along with her teammates Kelley O’Hara, Becky Sauerbrunn, Samantha Mewis, Christen Press, and Jessica McDonald, who all come across as fun and relatable except, you know, way more talented at soccer. They are so effortlessly cool, they could probably talk me into supporting a much crazier cause, but one that I already believe in? Well, LFG.

This documentary had me Fired. Up. These are such incredible athletes and intelligent women, and to be jerked around the way they were is simply unacceptable. After I watched this, and during too, I wanted to run around and kick stuff, but I really wanted to shake the people that can’t clearly see and do something about women deserving equal pay, anywhere and everywhere. The film is not just for sports fans and not just for women, but for all people. Come for the soccer but stay for the ridiculous, discriminatory issue that is unfortunately way, way too pervasive in our society.

LFG is everything a documentary should be: there’s a clear story and fight at hand, the subjects are charismatic and prepared (and again, so, so cool), and there is a blatant lesson to be learned. The film is super entertaining as it uses staggering statistics to make its point, but also painfully vulnerable as these women let us into their hearts and lives off the field. So just in case you’re still on the fence about watching this movie, I have three very important letters for you: LFG.

LFG premieres June 24th on HBO Max. 

Stream LFG on HBO Max