Beneath the New York City subway system lies a shadowy labyrinth teeming with people living on the margins of society.
It’s a natural cinematic backdrop, and the 2000 documentary “Dark Days” probed it so well it has served as the last word on the subject for the past 20 years.
However, the riveting drama “Topside” finds a unique way in.
The directorial debut from co-directors Logan George and Celine Held (who also stars) around the prospects of raising a child in that darkness, only to find that the world above contains much scarier prospects.Despite its rough-hewed aesthetic and a jittery, moment-to-moment pace, “Topside” adopts a familiar subgenre of kid-in-peril movies, from “Little Fugitive” to “The Florida Project.” Much of the drama takes place from the innocent perspective of five year-old Little (Zhaila Farmer), who roams her subterranean surroundings with unfettered curiosity.
Her parents are hopeless junkies resigned to a daily struggle,
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