Backspot movie review & film summary (2024)

No one is more preoccupied with control on this team than Riley, whose position gives the film its title. The backspot is both the leader and anchor for all those elaborate stunts: She’s the one on the ground who ensures the tiny girls land safely after twisting and flying to the sky. Similarly, Devery Jacobs serves as the sturdy base of this movie, even as her character is going through some emotional acrobatics of her own. The “Reservation Dogs” and “Echo” actress presents a facade of unstoppable ambition, while insecurity and anxiety roil underneath.   

When Riley, her girlfriend, Amanda (Kudakwashe Rutendo), and their mutual best friend, Rachel (Noa DiBerto), get the opportunity to cheer for the more prestigious Thunder Hawks squad in their Canadian neighborhood, they jump at it, both literally and figuratively. The team’s leader is the exacting Eileen, played deliciously by a withering Evan Rachel Wood. Thomas Antony Olajide gets some choice one-liners as Eileen’s supercilious second in command, who will only allow himself to show so much sympathy: “Don’t call me sir, I’m 32, that hurts my feelings,” he warns the newbies.  

you’ll find little of the knowingly playful behavior you’d see in a movie like “Bring It On.” This is deadly serious business, where anything short of absolute victory is considered a failure. That pressure heightens whatever instincts already existed in these girls, for better and for worse. Glimpses into their home lives are efficient and revealing: Riley’s emotionally distant mom (Shannyn Sossamon) maintains a tidy, modern kitchen, and her dad is constantly absent. No wonder she seeks the approval of her icy coach. Meanwhile, the more level-headed Amanda lives in a cramped, working-class home that’s abuzz with kids and laughter. The reckless party girl Rachel serves as an amusing counterpoint to the two of them, and DiBerto’s lively performance offers welcome comic relief within this toxic environment.