The Philadelphia Phillies racked up 95 wins during the 2024 season, securing a spot in the playoffs. But just a year prior, the Major League Baseball team wasn’t looking so good. It kicked off 2023 with the acquisition of star shortstop Trea Turner with an 11-year, $300 million contract, but his season got off to a rough start. The city’s notoriously vocal fans weren’t pleased, to say the least, but Jon McCann, a superfan who goes by The Philly Captain on Instagram, wondered what might happen if the local crowd greeted Turner with cheers instead of boos.
What happened next surprised just about everyone — and that story is chronicled in The Turnaround, a documentary short co-directed by Philadelphia native Kyle Thrash and Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot (The Queen of Basketball, The Last Repair Shop), created in partnership with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company. Thrash says that McCann’s moving journey inspired them to tell his story.
“Jon wears his heart and his emotions on his sleeve, just like the city does,” Thrash tells Tudum. “In hearing about how he used what he learned from some of his darkest times to inspire something so beautiful that had an impact on this player, this city, and beyond, I knew [his story] needed to be told.”
Mental health and the power of community are the central themes of the short, and ultimately The Turnaround is about how, even during low points, love and support from others can make all the difference.
“The Turnaround reminds us that we get to choose how we react to failure, disappointment, and frustration,” says Proudfoot, who also served as a producer of the film. “This [is] the kind of true story that absolutely inspires our better angels.”
The Turnaround premieres on Netflix on Oct. 18.
