#TIFF23: “BACKSPOT” REVIEW

By David Baldwin

Cheerleaders Riley (Devery Jacobs) and her girlfriend Amanda (Kudakwashe Rutendo, TIFF Rising Star ’23 and Share Her Journey Fellow) have just been selected to be part of an elite cheer squad. With a major competition coming up – not to mention needing to impress ice cold head coach Eileen (Evan Rachel Wood) – there is no room for either of them to mess up this opportunity. And Riley is starting to buckle under that pressure.

I am not a gymnast, nor have I ever tried to be. Thankfully, that does not matter because Director D.W. Waterson (in their feature-length debut) does everything they can to make it so that you feel all of the pain, excitement and fear Riley feels from start to finish. The camera is always moving, taking in Riley’s experiences, amd honing in frequently on shots utilizing a Go-Pro to really embed deep into her psyche. When she starts having a panic attack, you feel it with her. When she starts pulling out her eyebrow hairs, you feel it with her. It is frequently disorientating and intense, but that is deliberate. Waterson is not so much making BACKSPOT into a film so much as they are making a visceral experience.

Jacobs is revelatory here, excelling equally at the physical and emotional elements of her character. She dives fearlessly into every moment, with the extreme close-ups on her face brilliantly depicting the toil this training is having on her. Her innocent, intimate connection with Rutendo is terrific, as are the standard coming-of-age tropes Riley finds herself falling into. Where the Film falters is in what is happening in the background of Riley’s home life, and more specifically her school work. We only get to see fragments of it or nothing at all, with everything that is not just gymnastics (including Shannyn Sossamon’s thankless performance as Riley’s Mom) kind of fading into the background. The number of scenes taking place at Cineplex Mississauga gave me a giggle though.

All of that said, Wood is the Film’s not-so secret weapon. She relishes at playing such a fiendish and nasty character. But when Riley and Amanda refer to her as middle-aged, despite being in her mid-30s? That innocuous, throwaway of a line hit me square in the gut. I am not sure I will ever forget it.

BACKSPOT screens at TIFF’ 23:

Friday, September 8 at 8:30 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox

Monday, September 11 at 3:00 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox

Friday, September 15 at 9:45 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto