‘Edge of Everything’ Review – A Triumphant And Timely Coming of Age Tale

Growing up in today’s America is complicated. There’s this constant need to be perfect, to stand out, to cut through all the noise around you. Social media and access to information and content at all times make it next to impossible for a teenager to focus on any one thing for more than a few seconds at a time. Anxiety and tensions rise, tempers flare, and kids lash out against their family and friends as a way to deal with all these emotions welling up inside them. One of the best ways to portray experiences like this is through films like Sophie Sabella and Pablo Feldman’s debut film, Edge of Everything. The story follows Sierra McCormick (The Vast of Night) as Abby, a 14-year-old girl who has just moved in with her father and his girlfriend after the tragic death of her mother.

Edge of Everything is incredibly effective and moving throughout its brief 81-minute runtime, taking the audience through the emotional rollercoaster of a grief-stricken teen. Abby very quickly starts smoking and drinking around her friend group, which makes them noticeably uncomfortable. Early in the story, she befriends a like-minded ruffian in Caroline (Ryan Simpkins). Abby’s behavior continues to get more worrisome for her father, David (Jason Butler Harner), and his girlfriend Leslie (Sabina Freidman-Seitz). Despite the house being small, there’s a distinct separation between Abby and her parental figures. Her room is functionally in the basement, distant both physically and emotionally from the rest of her family and friends.

The film offers up more of a slice of life vibe than any classic plot progressions or machinations. Yes, the passing of Abby’s mother informs the ensuing incidents and the decisions she makes, but it’s not quite as linear as a typical narrative. The mood is influenced heavily by Marc E. Bassy’s music supervision and Scott Ray’s cinematography. The songs switch from blasting hip hop in the car to depressingly emo music whilst walking to school. There’s a hilarious moment in the early stages of the movie where Abby is listening to a very emotional song on her way to school only to be interrupted by her father offering her a nice, calm ride to her first class. It’s a small moment, but it makes in interesting point about how people can use big headphones and moving music to drown out the world and lean into those downcast feelings instead of truly running away from or working through them. The camera moves freely in every scene, almost reminiscent of how Friday Night Lights makes you feel like you’re right there in the locker room. These tight shots and cuts make Abby’s anxiety and frustrations all the more real.

Edge of Everything gets one huge thing impressively right: the impact of peer pressure and technology in today’s age. There’s hardly a moment when Abby and her friends encounter any sort of quiet, constantly blasting music or talking excitingly about something that just happened to them. There’s no reprieve from the noise or the neverending scrolling. The unceasing need for audio and visual stimulation is drowning, and doesn’t help Abby deal with the pain she’s experiencing. Sierra McCormick shows incredible range here, being care free and having the time of her life in one moment, but once she’s alone she lets that hurt and grief come to the surface in subtle, yet discernable ways.

For a small-scale film like this, you can’t ask for much more from first-time directors in Sophie Sabella and Pablo Feldman. They hit the nail on the head the tone and the look of this story.  If there is one thing to knock, it’s that it could honestly have been a little longer. 81 minutes is unbelievably short for a feature, and it could have been cool to have a little more time to explore these characters.

Edge of Everything will debut on VOD and Digital platforms on June 7, 2024, courtesy of Lightyear Entertainment.