In cheerleading, the one who helps with the bases of helping those get up on the flies and stunts is considered the “back spot.” The film is also titled Backspot. A sportsmanship film that thrives in its uniqueness and competitiveness. It captures the seriousness of a high school cheerleading team. It is a film about persistence. “Persistence” in focus and patience. Backspot is surreal in the tone of thinking competitively. Directed by D.W. Waterson, Backspot is the generations athletic film that younger audiences need today. Its clever track of remaining involved and not giving up is in the form of anticipation for a greater outcome.
The meaning of “greater outcome” is the efforts to give a fascination everything. I felt a heavy correlation to this aspect with Backspot. I was not an athlete in my high school days, I was a thespian of the theatricals. Even though that was not a sport it was one where each key moment of a performance counts just as much as one with athletics. Especially at the age of learning how to multi-task. One of the teammates works at a cinema on top of being on the cheerleading team. I worked in a cinema while doing my theatricals. Backspot is the true representation of multi-tasking for success and overcoming errors with a thorough and clear-headed mind.
The plot of the film is one solely focused on a cheerleader and her name is Riley (played by Devery Jacobs). Riley is one where cheerleading means everything to her, and it does as much for her two friends Amanda (played by Kudakwashe Rutendo) and Rachel (played by Noa DiBerto). Riley though, focuses all her energy on cheerleading alone. She puts cheerleading into every aspect of her mind. At the same time, she has that encouraging dynamic of friends between Amanda and Rachel where it comes as easy to overcome obstacles. This all changes when a new coach comes into the game. The new coach is Eileen, and she is played by Evan Rachel Wood. Eileen is a coach with a two-faced attitude where practice feels more anxiety-provoking for Rachel. Once Riley makes it to the high tier on the team, Backspot is a massive win for her. However, tension continues through the negative personality with Eileen’s coaching tactics.
The direction of making one proud is where Wood’s performance is surreal with strictness. There is a moment where she says, “It’s about what we do!” Eileen is not one for jokes, she is about the focus being only on winning and not letting any distraction come into play. She views any error as a form of foolishness and an excuse. There is also a moment where Eileen says, “This world is not kind to weak people!” The abusive and belittling words are what spiral the film of anxiousness for hopes for Riley to keep her determination. How is Riley mentally though?
Competitiveness is the layer of the underlying and strenuous activity—there is no stopping, only moving forward to perform better. Waterson’s style develops a vast presentation of the cheerleading team having doubts. Despite their turmoil of frustration, they move to find their routes to move forward. Backspot is keen on that pattern of falling and getting backrepeatedly. When one thrives accurately, everyone else does also. It is an honorable example of what persistence takes in the days of high school athletes.
Repetition and doing something until they are right is the vibe of brilliance in the sportsmanship sense in Backspot. The amount of joy for Riley, Amanda, and Rachel becomes anxious for a form of escape—they find themselves partying briefly in moments. Commonsense begins to hit a lacking point in their thinking. This form of direction is one where I felt the true stress of the film itself. The fact that sports and extra-curriculars can take a toll…especially when one is not feeling the fun and only the pressure of it. Eileen is belittling—she is always talking about improvements and barely shows any enthusiasm for encouragement.
A portrait of how there is brutality in being competitive. Riley’s overwhelmed state-of-mind gets to her. Her feelings of guilt and stressors do not matter to Eileen…only what can be accomplished. Tactics and all have their moments of breaking points, ultimately it is about not giving up. It continues down a positive path for glory. Three-and-a-half out of four stars for Backspot.
