Edge of Everything straddles the line of original storytelling and coming-of-age tropes like its teenage protagonist straddles the line between adolescence and adulthood. Filmmakers Pablo Feldman and Sophia Sabella don’t necessarily make “rookie mistakes” with their feature directorial debut, but the duo undoubtedly knew that their 81-minute drama would be compared to Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen — a 2016 film with a similar title and themes. Neither brain-tingling nor plain bad, Edge of Everything is a middling coming-of-age film that lacks energy and visual flair.

In a small American community called Mill Valley, 14-year-old Abby (Sierra McCormick) jokes about her Jewish ethnicity with friends, not long after her mother’s death from cancer. She clashes with her father’s passive-aggressive girlfriend, Leslie (Sabina Friedman-Seitz), and retreats to her bedroom like so many angsty adolescents. Visually, the directors and cinematographer Scott Ray excel with their early mise-en-scène inside Abby’s room, but there’s one key sub-genre element missing from Edge of Everything’s first act: strong sound design — a staple of coming-of-age films. Feldman and Sabella eventually ramp up the tone through a steady use of soundtrack songs, yet they never quite expand on themes introduced during the first act, such as Abby’s Jewish ethnicity, her relationship (or lack thereof) with an awkward classmate named Kevin (Drew Scheid) or the homoerotic advances of the protagonist’s punk rock friend Caroline (Ryan Simpkins). It seems like Edge of Everything’s directors felt the need to check off some diversity boxes before properly beginning the film.

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Edge of Everything improves during the second half when the directors contrast Abby’s erratic behavior and inner circle of female friends with the inner turmoil of older male characters. The protagonist’s widower father, David (the always reliable Jason Butler Harner), takes a hands-off parenting approach, presumably because he wants his daughter to have some personal freedom while emotionally recovering from her mother’s death. Elsewhere, a drama teacher named Gordon (Ben Cleaveland) weeps in his vehicle, but the filmmakers don’t quite expand on this minor plot point, though it does indeed align with a spot-on line of middle act dialogue as Abby and her friends muse about “slowly lose everything that matters.” Unfortunately, there’s not much character depth across the board, though the trio of McCormick, Harner and Simpkins fully lock into key moments as their protagonists collectively try to find peace of mind. Edge of Everything is very much a film about shared misery, with black humor masking the protagonists’ deep despair.

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There’s a mumblecore element to Edge of Everything, as McCormick and her young co-stars seemingly improvise dialogue during bedroom and school scenes. And while the directors unsurprisingly incorporate a house party sequence — standard for any coming-of-age film — it doesn’t elevate the comedy and action but rather underscores a dark element, due to a predatory male character named Dylan (Anthony Del Negro). Edge of Everything addresses relevant issues (heavy drug use, the threat of sexual assault) that typically don’t make it into upbeat coming-of-age dramas; however, Feldman and Sabella consistently transition to different settings without fully exploring the perspectives of each main character. By the climax, a moment of pure symbolism feels too on-the-nose, even though younger audiences will surely appreciate the camaraderie shared by Abby and her closest friends.

Edge of Everything released digitally in June 2024.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor.

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