Make It To Munich

Lots of kids love football, but few show the talent for it that Ethan Walker did. We see him here in home video footage from when he was just two years old, his coordination impressive as he toddles around kicking a ball. As he got older, his passion would grow into an obsession: the kind of single-mindedness it takes to pursue a sport to the very top level. But Ethan was unlucky. Martyn Robertson’s documentary opens with scenes of a rescue helicopter hovering over New York City. Whilst pursuing a football scholarship in the US, the Aberdeenshire teenager was caught up in a car accident. The scale of damage done to his body initially had doctors wondering if he would ever walk again.

How did a post-accident Ethan end up on a 1,300 mile cycling trip across Europe to support the Scotland team?

Originally made as a side project and not intended for release, Make It To Munich was unexpectedly selected to be the closing film of the 2025 Glasgow Film Festival, and it has been warmly received by audiences. You don’t need to be a fan of football or cycling to enjoy it. It’s not particularly dramatic and it doesn’t deal in miracles, but it’s a deeply engaging and enjoyable piece of work.

Spurred on by the excitement of Scotland getting into the European Cup, Ethan was determined to recover, and the team were so impressed by his efforts that they gave him the official duty of transporting the pennant for their match. He was accompanied by the surgeon who repaired his legs and was available to provide emergency support should anything go wrong – not just with his previously shattered bones, but with his brain, which was also damaged in the accident. A fellow Scotland fan joined them, and so, of course, did Robertson himself. Whilst he could theoretically have trailed the group in a van, he wouldn’t have been able to get the same quality of footage or capture the intimate moments of conversation that contribute to the film’s magic. The only real way to make it work was to commit to cycling 1,300 miles himself.

Ethan is an appealing central subject, a slightly shy but very personable young man whose natural honesty and openness let us see exactly what he’s feeling as he processes some difficult truths. When things go well, his happiness just shines out of him. He’s also clearly very intelligent, which is significant because when he gets tired the brain injury leads to him slurring his speech, something people often associate with stupidity, so the film should lead some viewers to reassess damaging assumptions. Alongside him, the older men feel guilty complaining about their aches and pains, and he is perhaps too young to realise how their bodies might be affected by the trip, so there is gentle comedy around their secrecy and his enthusiasm for pressing on.

The film is very well edited, especially in the final section as the group nears its goal. There’s a nicely managed sense of momentum throughout, and different sections are stitched together with animation well suited to the character of the piece. Throughout, there is tension associated with Ethan’s desire to prove his fitness and return to his sport, whilst the surgeon has to figure out to tell him that because of the danger associated with any future head injuries, that will never be possible. There might, however, be a consolation prize.

As most viewers will be aware, Scotland is not the most successful of footballing nations, but few teams and fan communities so effectively embody the spirit of doing it anyway, of enjoying the journey and finding joy there even if the dream doesn’t come true. Make It To Munich is a film in this tradition. It’s a film about the love of live when lived for its own sake, and it’s a real pleasure to watch.

Reviewed on: 14 May 2025