Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt’s intimate portrait of three teenage girls living in rural Texas has found a home. Showtime Documentary Films acquired worldwide rights to “Cusp,” according to Deadline.
“Cusp” marks Hill and Bethencourt’s feature-length debut. The Sundance doc follows three best friends as they grapple with social media, drugs, and sexual abuse over the course of one summer.
“We met a group of friends by chance in the middle of the night at a gas station. We were immediately drawn to their summer energy and boundless freedom, and knew we had to keep talking,” the directors told us. “The excitement we felt drew us back to Texas to film, but the quick friendship and intimacy we formed with the girls drove us to help share their stories underneath all the wild nights.”
Hill and Bethencourt emphasized that they hope audiences “think about what it actually looks like to normalize trauma from such a young age and realize how much teenage girls are dealing with on a day-to-day basis. We think a story like this also tends to make people look back on their own teenage years, not just to empathize with the girls but to understand the ways we all perpetuate toxic masculinity,” they explained.
“We are thrilled to be working with Parker and Isabel, who, much like their subjects, are on their own cusp with this emotional and striking first feature,” said Vinnie Malhotra, Executive Vice President, Nonfiction Programming, Showtime Networks. “The raw intimacy they capture, and the stories they draw from their subjects, are incredible when you consider where they are in their careers.”
Hill and Bethencourt added that they are “honored to be partnering with Vinnie and the team at Showtime to share ‘Cusp’ with audiences around the world.” The filmmakers continued, “We’re forever grateful to the incredible young women who shared their lives with us, and we hope that their bravery and strength encourage others to feel less alone and speak up.”