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| Images courtesy of Lightyear Entertainment |
The troubled possibly delinquent teenager of a single parent
coming-of-age drama is as old as cinema itself with emphasis on the downtrodden
paths unassuming kids can fall into.
Whether it be Larry Clark’s Kids, Catherine Hardwicke’s Thirteen,
Marielle Heller’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl and more recently Kelly
Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen, the films often posited preteen
female characters on the cusp of sexual awakening at a difficult transitional
period in their lives with the beleaguered parents, friends and/or relatives
unsure of how or if to intervene. The
latest addition to what will be an ongoing subgenre for some time are
writer-producer-directors Sophia Sabella and Pablo Feldman’s feature film debut
Edge of Everything, a tale of a fifteen year old girl who starts hanging
out with a rebellious bad girl who introduces her to everything from drinking,
drugs and sex with destructive repercussions.
Starring The Vast of Night actress Sierra McCormick
as Abby, we learn the preteen who lost her mother recently is forced to move in
with her estranged father David (Jason Butler Harner) and his young girlfriend
Leslie (Sabrina Friedman-Seitz). Unhappy
with the living situation and taking orders from her father’s girlfriend, she’s
hanging out with her friends one day when she notices Caroline (Fear Street actress
Ryan Simpkins) shoplifting and drinking outside and finds herself unable to
stop hanging out with her or integrating her into her friendship circle and
family home. Vicariously egging Abby on
to be more rebellious, Abby soon gets involved with smoking pot, drinking
alcohol and hanging around juvenile delinquents playing hooky and trying to
seduce and deflower the underage girl.
Will Abby see the light and free herself of this downward spiral before
it is too late?
A taut, tight little coming-of-age drama with strong
performances from the ensemble cast and a cautionary tale about how one person
can negatively impact an entire group of people as Abby’s concerned friends
soon too fall under Caroline’s drug abusing spell and risk getting into very
serious trouble, Edge of Everything isn’t exactly unfamiliar territory. A parent’s worst nightmare with the father
figure trying his best to gain footing on a delicate situation while his
girlfriend doesn’t know whether to stay or go, the film shot in 1.66:1
widescreen by Scott Ray looks handsome enough, frequently resorting to handheld
camerawork for tenser preteen exchanges.
The film doesn’t seem to have an original score and primarily utilizes preexisting
needle drops. The two young leads played
by Sierra McCormick and Ryan Simpkins give their all while many of the other
young supporting members turn over fine performances. Nothing spectacular but certainly believable
in the pantheon of juvenile delinquent dramas.
The Best Independent Feature Winner at the Santa Barbara
International Film Festival, the under-the-radar DVD release of Edge of
Everything won’t make a huge splash in the marketplace but it absolutely
contributes positively to the ongoing discourse surrounding the difficulties
and crossroads faced by adolescents as they stand on the precipice of adulthood. While I myself am more inclined to point to
the aforementioned examples listed above over this, it still nevertheless
leaves its small mark and is a step in the right direction. Where the careers of Sophia Sabella and Pablo
Feldman remain to be seen where they do or don’t develop, it is fair to say Sierre
McCormick and Ryan Simpkins are on the right track to fleshing out their
respective acting careers.
--Andrew Kotwicki
