Jan 31

Jan 31 Sundance Film Festival movie review: 'At the Ready'

*(Image courtesy of Sundance Film Festival.)*

The eye-opening documentary 'At the Ready' (premiering at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival) offers an intriguing look at a regimented school-to-law enforcement pipeline.

In short: Filmmaker Maisie Crow ('Jackson') follows a group of high school seniors living near the U.S./Mexico border training to become police officers and Border Patrol agents.

Numerous films and TV shows feature characters who come from a long line of police officers. A Chicago or Boston police officer whose parent or sibling speaks to a cultural legacy of law enforcement - that sometimes goes back several generations. 'At the Ready' presents a new facet to an emerging culture gaining a firm foothold within Latinx border town communities. If the performing arts school in 'Fame' can turn out dancers and musicians, it just stands to reason that training program for law enforcement would exist.

'At the Ready' dispels the generalization that Border Patrol are simply just a bunch of racist officers simply trying to enforce xenophobic policy with might and force. This empathetic work puts a very human face on students not just looking for a job - becoming a Border Patrol officer is literally their dream job. Yes the career path offers financial security without requiring a college degree - but the film reveals the deeper motivations some students have for pursing a career in law enforcement. The inspired perspective of this documentary is profiling perspective officers - who are the children and relatives of undocumented immigrants and drug runners.

It is frankly a little unnerving to hear high school teens calmly and factually state the need to double tap a potential threat. Watching the process that frames the world in binary terms of officers and threats, with little to no grey area, is frankly unnerving. 'At the Ready' chronicles training that isn't simply about weapons proficiency - it cements othering under the auspice of officer's safety.

The documentary takes a compelling turn as it layers the high school training in the context of the immigration policies under the Trump administration. Immigration politics are intrinsically tied to border patrol and law enforcement policies, and 'At the Ready' finds the students as they consider what they're willing to do and what the job may require them to do.

While this engrossing documentary is reveals why a kid might aspire to join law enforcement, it lacks hard-hitting revelations. The documentary is based in the very practical pros and cons of life as an officer - which results in a film that is quite convincing and empathetic - but not a film ever excites, enrages, depresses or inspires. It never elicits any strong emotions, so the film is more informative than it is revelatory.

Final verdict: 'At the Ready' finds innocent children taking their first steps to cross the thin blue line from civilian to officer.