AFI Docs 2021: Cusp
afi docs 2021As both political and age divides grow between generations and cohorts, the medium of film has become an important tool for attempts at understanding. Screening as part of the 2021 AFI Docs Film Festival, Cusp seems to be trying to do just this. Directed by Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill, Cusp sets the audience into a small military town in Texas where a group of teenage girls go about their lives. Rather than crafting a strong focus or angle, Cusp simply allows the lives of these girls to breathe into the film and lets them take the audience along for the ride of their everyday experience.
When it comes to a more aimless exploration of humanity like the one featured in Cusp, the level of success the film will find all comes down to the subject. Films like Hulu's Minding the Gap managed to find a deeper and meaningful thesis in its seeming lack of focus, leading to a worthwhile viewing experience. Cusp simply lacks this. While on paper the idea of seeing young women from what is stereotypically seen as a conservative-heavy area of America seems like a natural fit for this style, the final product simply struggles to find value in what it is capturing.
One reason for this clearly is the age of the film's subjects. While the perspective of young individuals is clearly important, Cusp proves that trying to naturally capture this perspective in this style has its flaws. Characters never feel as if they truly can give the authentic nuance in their lives or views both more than likely because they don't naturally come up and they themselves are probably not even aware of this in their adolescence. It doesn't help that the experience of being with these characters is simply not that enjoyable. Their lives are simply not that interesting and whilst their personalities and charisma have moments when they shine, the experience never feels that exciting or worthwhile. This also can be attributed to the film's 83-minute runtime. On paper, this doesn't seem like a very long film – and it isn't, similar documentaries like Hale County This Morning, This Evening have understood that when the atmosphere is the main takeaway from a film, it is best to be on the even shorter side of this.
It is worth pointing out that the filmmaking behind Cusp is solid enough in a vacuum away from the context of how interesting the film actually is. Both Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill are making their feature directorial debuts and seem confident enough in their craft. They also serve as the cinematographers for the project and do find success in finding the natural beauty of the everyday experience.
Had the focus been more interesting, this is clearly a team that could have made something really special. As is, Cusp remains a rather forgettable and surprisingly hollow feature for what felt so promising. This is a clear reminder of just how dangerous and difficult this style of film is to craft and proves that there are times where it simply doesn't come together.
