Cusp

In CUSP, documentary filmmakers Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill follow high school friends Brittney, Autumn, and Aaloni as they navigate life in their small Texas town. The opening scene shows two teenage girls on a makeshift swing, watching two teenage boys shoot assault rifles into a field. The girls are utterly carefree, despite gunshot after gunshot. Violent boys are commonplace in their lives. Then a montage shows a McDonald's, Texas tattoos, shoes hanging from electrical wire, an empty beer can, a dead deer, etc. The girls attend house parties with older boys where they drink, smoke, and make out. "You can't hang out with older people and then expect them not to do anything," they say. Brittney, Autumn, and Aaloni compare notes on the boys they've encountered. Some are hookups, others are boyfriends. In every case, the girls face pressure to be sexual and to be obedient. They have normalized feeling powerless. "You can always tell somebody no, but they're still gonna do it," one of the girls remarks. A few adults are introduced, but most remain off-camera. Aaloni's mother is a "cool mom" with face piercings who talks with her daughter about sex; her father is a veteran with PTSD who's never seen but is overheard verbally abusing his kids. In snapshot after snapshot, the scenes of their lives come together, painting a picture of their world. They're girls on the "cusp" of self-destruction -- and self-discovery.