On the Outs

Running time: 82 mins

Nominated for an Independent Spirit Award
John Cassavetes Award (for best feature made for under $500,000)

Growing up on the mean streets of Jersey City is tough, especially for a teenage girl trying to find her place in the world. Oz, a born leader, has staked out her own turf where she deals drugs. Suzette, the sheltered daughter of a single mother, has her first teenage crush, which has life-changing repercussions. And Maisol, a single mother herself, fights her own demons and the system to keep her child. Their stories intertwine in this compelling tale of the struggle to survive in an uncompromising environment.

Filmmakers Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik spent months working and talking with troubled Jersey City girls, many of whose stories were integrated into the screenplay. The magnificent acting by all three leads, including Judy Marte, who earned her own Independent Spirit Award nomination for best actress, offers a shattering sense of realism to this gritty slice of life.

The journey that these girls take, merely to survive it, is one that can be tragic, but also hopeful and inspirational. And although sometimes it may seem that everyone is conspiring against them, On the Outs leaves us with an indelible image of kids trying to overcome their plight in a frightening world which they never had a chance to choose as their own.

Sandy Wolf

DIGITAL BY DIGITAL

Cinequest Category: LIFE