At a time when excellent coming-of-age fiction is king, like the series Euphoria by Sam Levinson or gang of girls by Céline Sciamma, and have nothing left of the romantic comedies of the 1990s and 2000s, Backspot comes into the world.
Drum roll: for his first feature film, DW Waterson (That’s My DJ) chose to situate its plot in the ultra-stereotypical universe, and explored many times on screen (which millennial has not been marked by All for all, by Peyton Reed, in 2000?), cheerleaders. But this time, the subject is very different and DW Waterson focuses on the athletic aspect.
Riley, subtly played by the actress from Kahnawake and star of the television series Reservation Dogs Devery Jacobs, holds the position of backspot when she is spotted by her school’s elite team, the Thunderhawks, led with an iron fist by Evan Rachel Wood’s characters (Thirteen), coach Eileen, and Thomas Antony Olajide (Learn to Swim), his assistant, Devon. But now, Riley must navigate between the pressure of the new physical and mental demands that now fall on him and his romantic, friendly and family relationships.
And this is far from obvious to her, since Riley visibly suffers from performance anxiety accompanied by regular panic attacks and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In Backspotthe on-screen treatment of the main character’s anguish imagined by DW Waterson is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing facets of the film. Here, mental health problems are not only shown: they are an integral part of Riley’s personality, without entirely defining or confining her. Despite her overflowing ambition, she must therefore deal with a sick perfectionism which, over the course of the story, brings her many personal and sporting challenges. Anxiety – very aptly transcribed thanks to the aesthetics of the film – is also for DW Waterson a wonderful opportunity to evoke compassion and the affirmation of one’s vulnerability, without judgment. We think in particular of the seemingly banal, but very intimate, one-on-one scenes between Riley and her mother, played by Shannyn Sossamon (40 days and 40 nights), and between Riley and Devon.
It is also worth emphasizing that in Backspotincluding Elliot Page (Juno) is also executive producer, almost all of the main characters are queer. However, this queerness is neither an issue nor the subject of the film, and it’s frankly good to watch, especially in these times. Si Riley and her teammate Amanda, played by Kudakwashe Rutendo (Teens without limits), are in a relationship, if Eileen has things to settle with her ex-wife and if Devon hangs out in gay clubs, this is, in fact, only a pretext to forge the feeling of admiration between the protagonists.
Of course, Backspot is not perfect and sometimes falters – perhaps a lack of connection regarding the development, or not, of certain characters? — but, after all, who said that perfection was THE goal to achieve?