{"id":21990,"date":"2021-01-31T06:15:43","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T06:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shows4.com\/?p=21990"},"modified":"2021-01-31T06:15:43","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T06:15:43","slug":"cusp-review-intimate-look-at-real-life-teenage-girls-begs-for-the-seven-up-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shows4.com\/?p=21990","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Cusp\u2019 Review: Intimate Look at Real-Life Teenage Girls Begs for the \u2018Seven Up\u2019 Treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nSundance: Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill’s close look at three Texas teens is bracing, and so is the feeling there’s so much more to come.<\/p>\n

Despite the myriad ways in which teenagers so readily share their lives online these days \u2014 Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, surely something else brand-new by the time this is published \u2014 there is something distinctly brave about the three subjects at the heart of Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill\u2019s intimate documentary \u201cCusp.\u201d Following a trio of very different friends during a shiftless summer in small-town Texas, the pair\u2019s feature debut unearths a series of staggering revelations, all of them rooted in the real experience of their courageous stars. And while Bethencourt and Hill\u2019s documentary finds magic during the strange liminal space between childhood and adulthood, \u201cCusp\u201d also makes the case for a continuing series focused on its compelling subjects.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s most enthralling about the material, however, is the sense that its subjects would likely scoff \u2014 like all good teens \u2014 at the thought that their experiences are somehow unique or worthy of being viewed as anything more than just a slice of their own lives. Such are the awkward charms of teenagers: they somehow seem to think they are both the most important people in the world and just like everyone else. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to describe me yet,\u201d one of Bethencourt and Hill\u2019s subjects shrugs at the start of the film, before reeling off a number of key facts about herself. They know themselves, even if that seems hard.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The film has a tendency to meander by design: it\u2019s set over the course of one summer, but often feels as if it\u2019s encompassing years; when it caps off with the first day of school, it\u2019s both a natural end and a surprising one. As it drifts along, the narrative is stabilized by a trio of strong personalities. Brittney loves to party and is outwardly very confident, but her early proclamations that she\u2019s mature enough to hang with older folks is soon to be tested. Aaloni is a tough-talking new girl, intent on standing up for herself and setting herself apart from the crowd (\u201cPersonally, I fucking hate teenagers; yes, I\u2019m saying I hate myself\u201d). Autumn seems to know far better than any of her friends what dangers lurk in seemingly friendly settings.<\/p>\n

Boy talk dominates many of their interactions, including an early look at Autumn\u2019s relationship with her boyfriend Dustin that seems destined for implosion, while various family issues turn into the focal point of the film\u2019s heartbreaking second half. And, tied up in both, there are continued discussions about the impact of sexual assault on all of their lives. First, there\u2019s Brittney dropping the news that some pals broke up because the boy \u201cbasically raped\u201d his girlfriend, her initially blas\u00e9 delivery masking some hard-won thoughts on the matter. More stories like it will unfold as \u201cCusp\u201d moves forward, but the honesty and respect given to each tale is the film\u2019s greatest strength.<\/p>\n

For all of the girls\u2019 maturity on certain subjects, \u201cCusp\u201d finds them making plenty of mistakes on the path to adulthood, and while it\u2019s easy to judge them at a remove, Bethencourt and Hill never do. The pair also served as the film\u2019s cinematographers, and the elevated treatment of the material \u2014 part Terrence Malick, part Helene Louvart \u2014 also adds to the sense that what we are watching is important. It is, and so are Brittney, Aaloni, and Autumn and their experiences.<\/p>\n

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