2020 / 40m - USA
Documentary
1.5*/5.0*
The Speed Cubers poster

Watches

July 31, 2020

1.5*/5.0*

A short documentary on speed cubing, at least that's the premise of this film. 40 minutes isn't a lot to do justice to a subject, the problem is that only half of the time is spent on the actual speed cubing. Maybe because it's a pretty simple sport and there's really not that much to tell, but that's the reason I decided to watch this documentary.

Instead, Sue Kim finds a story about two rivals (Max and Feliks) who share a solid friendship, with Max being diagnosed as autistic. About half the doc is spent on Max' condition and how the speed cubing contests allowed him to better deal with the world around him. Instead of speed cubing, you get stuck with human interest material.

Autism is definitely a worthy subject for a documentary, but there are already so many documentaries out there that do a much better job detailing the ins and outs of this condition, that it just felt superfluous and distracting here. The two protagonists are pretty lovable characters, but that doesn't necessarily make for a good documentary.