BACKSPOT (2024)

Devery Jacobs, Kudakwashe Rutendo and Evan Rachel Wood star in nonbinary director D.W. Waterson’s film BACKSPOT – which opens in theatres in Canada/USA on Friday, May 31, 2024.

BACKSPOT follows Riley as she and her girlfriend Amanda are chosen to join an all-star cheerleading team. The coaches (Evan Rachel Wood and Thomas Antony Olajide) are strict and colder than she is used to, but she is determined to stand out and make an impression. Her drive for perfection begins to get her noticed, but her anxiety also begins to take a toll. Will Riley be able to find the balance necessary to keep a healthy relationship with her girlfriend and also achieve her cheerleading goals?

Personally, I love how wonderfully queer the film is. Not only has it been brought to the screen by a team of talented queer creators – but there are also a diverse group of queer characters, from different generations, on-screen as well.

In a recent interview with THE KIT, the film’s star and co-producer Devery Jacobs stated that:

“So often in queer cinema and queer films, there’s conversations about how hard it is to be queer. We wanted to move past that: Like, what does it actually tangibly feel like to be an out queer teen athlete in 2024? Sport is a really loaded place for queer and trans youth right now, so, for us, we wanted to move past the coming-out story. We wanted to dive into what different queer relationships look like, not only romantically but with queer elders, with queer peers, and find the nuances within those dynamics and relationships.”

Be sure to check out BACKSPOT when it’s released to theatres later this week!

BACKSPOT

2023. Canada/USA.

Director: D. W. Waterson

Screenplay: Joanne Sarazen

Executive Producer: Elliot Page

Starring: Devery Jacobs, Kudakwashe Rutendo, Evan Rachel Wood, Thomas Antony Olajide, Noa DiBerto, Oluniké Adeliyi, Wendy Crewson & Shannyn Sossamon