Review by Benjamin Poole
Directed by: Sophia Silver
Starring: Emajean Bullock, Anastasia Veronica Lee, Adam David Thompson, Madeline Wise, Brandon Keener, Christiane Seidel, Valeria Cotto
Remember all that fuss about Adolescence? Yeah, bit cringe when you think back. Bit overboard. "Worrav ya dune, lad?," Acting, it's all shot in one take, etc. Cue the Prime Minister suggesting the four hour series be shown in schools (to what end?!), the gleeful sparking of a hundred thought pieces concerning the "unfathomable pressures faced by boys in Britain today." Jesus, pull yourselves together and eat your cornies, "lad." Working With Young People I'm sort of at the front line of this apparent crisis of masculinity, and, as the generation implicated would remark, it's a load of old cap. If there is a destabilisation of masculinity (which, in the tediously reductive use of the abstract noun presumes that all people who identify as male are the same and there is only one way of being a man), then it's because of a welcome and developing redress of the dominant patriarchy, following decades of male privilege and actual fixing of educational outcomes to favour boys. Of course you're going to be nonplussed if the path cleared for you is obfuscated due to concepts such as equality and fairness, in the same manner slave owners got the hump because of woke way back when (the Slavery Abolition Act 1833). It's embarrassing, man. It's messing with my "men's mental health," etc.
The problem with stuff like Adolescence and that Louis Theroux documentary is that despite the villainy of its subjects being directed towards women and girls, the focus of both shows is men or boys, and the ensuing hand-wringing sermons evaluate masculinity while completely ignoring the targets and victims of a toxic insecurity. Girls, as ever, are simply expected to get on with it. Dont worry chaps, the patriarchy has gone nowhere: the media (I saw Tony the other week - ah, that loveable stalker, the rugged sex offender, etc), the discourse and the culture still favours, excuses and privileges boys. Which is why, even on face value, Sophia Silver and Sianni Rosenstock's (director and co-writer) Over/Under is to be at first cherished as a white elephant attempt to document burgeoning female tween friendship and ultimately celebrated for its gentle, convincing and, at points, devastatingly affecting drama.
Based on the experiences of its creators, Over/Under follows the lives of Violet (Emajean Bullock) and Stella (Anastasia Veronica Lee) over the crucial half decade between eight and 13 years old. This period of childhood is its true crucible, where the woman to be is born from the girl, and we see Violet and Stella's life experiences in fundamental vignettes across the ensuing lustrum. This may make for a disjointed narrative experience, but for me it reflected the magpie-like propensity of memory to focus in on the moments which matter. The plot conceit is that the girls meet up every year on the New England coast, and this is where we are introduced to them in a halcyon opening of wished upon moths, mint-green outdoors and rolling ocean waves that are the deep blue of raspberry ice slush. These kids are carefree and watching them you can't help but feel a bittersweet tug of nostalgia (my nephew, the youngest, is the same age and my kingdom for a Bernard's Watch...). There are intimations of an encroaching adult world, however, in the andric form of the nearby nudist beach which the girls spy on in innocent wonder, commenting on the variety and indeed absurdity of the (offscreen) penes on show. "Bout time the blokes were objectified, amirite girls?!" etc, but the sequence is also an early indicator of the frank way in which Over/Under will approach developing sexuality.
As the film continues, we dip in and out of the girls' respective lives both apart and in reunion, experiencing milestones which range from the unpleasantly quotidian to bigger challenges. It's not like me to gender everything, but the everyday experiences of the two are specifically female: Violet is bullied because of her clothes and hair (items not necessarily on a male 10-year-old persecutor's agenda), while Stella explains how to use a tampon (could you imagine if men had periods - you'd never hear the end of it). There is unease over breasts and bra-sizes. But darker shadows loom in the form of a parent with cancer, and impending divorces, too. Throughout the film, Violet and Stella need and draw strength from each other (the latter places Violet's hand on her breast to show off her development in a moment of guileless intimacy: an impressive feature of Over/Under is the film's forthright perspective on puberty), yet the intervening vicissitudes of female friendship will dully form the film's narrative conflict.
The hardest concept for children to grasp is how necessarily circumscribed their world is; however better or worse the goldfish bowl may be, kids have no idea of the oceans which await beyond. In those early moments of pre-teen urgency, your best friend is forever, but life and maturity naturally and inevitably interferes. The management of chronology by Silver and Rosenstock here is poignantly effective and, aided by the excellent performances from Bullock and Lee, we really do get a sense of these kids growing up, and the natural drifts which will eventually channel them into the colder waters of adulthood. Speaking of which, the scenes with the parents are so lovely and authentic, with expertly intuited signals of the grownup struggles which Violet and Stella are lovingly protected from as far as possible (relatedly, I think this film takes place in a pre-social media era, presumably because an honest depiction of tween girl life during the time of device dominance would simply be too nightmarish). For anyone who has been a young girl, or has lived closely alongside them, Over/Under is acutely recognisable, not because cinema regularly presents this sort of narrative, but on account of Silver and Rosenstock's capturing situations which are true to lived experience. Over/Under offers an authentic representation which is not often seen on screen.
Over/Under is on UK/ROI VOD from August 24th.
