In the Turn (Erica Tremblay, 2014)

In the Turn screens on Wednesday, September 23 at Chicago's Landmark Century Cinema. For additional ticketing information, click here. 

Erica Tremblay’s In the Turn suggests that it is a film about the turmoil of a young transgender girl named Crystal from rural Canada. From the social prejudices that exclude her from organized sports to her single mother’s financial struggles, this is a milieu ripe for dramatic investigation. Yet the film digresses, inflating itself into a gargantuan and ungainly study about the global support network of a queer roller derby collective. Tremblay’s sophomore feature profiles members of the “Vagine Regime”, a community of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender roller derby skaters in what barely amounts to a publicity spot for the organization. There’s something particularly dubious about positioning the film around the social disadvantages of a young girl’s bullying, only to emphasize the philanthropy of the organization she finds solace in. Not without some merit – several of the interviewees provide illuminating personal narratives on their social marginalization – In the Turn is one of those rare cases where a documentarian has plundered upon a fascinating subject and opted not to make it the focal point.