A fresh lens on Billie Jean King's fight for equality lands at Sundance

When "Give Me the Ball" rolls onto the screen, it does more than recount a legendary match; it unspools the relentless energy of a woman who turned a tennis court into a battlefield for civil rights. The film follows King not as a distant icon but as a living pulse of defiance, weaving archival footage with intimate moments that reveal the quiet resolve behind her public triumphs. Viewers are invited into the backstage corridors of a sport that once mirrored society's gendered expectations, watching as King confronts not only opponents across the net but also the entrenched biases of a male-dominated world. The documentary's rhythm mirrors the cadence of a rally-sharp, relentless, and unyielding-while its narrative threads echo the broader cultural struggle for equity. By foregrounding the personal cost of her crusade, the film reframes the famous showdown as a catalyst rather than a climax, reminding us that the real battle continues beyond the scoreboard. In the hush of the theater, the audience feels the reverberation of a legacy still in motion, a testament to the power of sport to rewrite the rules of society.