It’s easy to forget, as an adult, how frustrating it is to be a teenager: experiencing the same desires as an adult, on many different levels, but constantly having things postponed, feeling repressed, and having very little control over one's own life. Teenage girls, in particular, are mocked by the rest of society, especially regarding their sexual and romantic feelings, even though they are frequently treated as sexual objects by men of all ages. When they themselves objectify others, like pop stars, an absurd double standard is applied. Of course, most don't expect to ever have a relationship with these stars, but fantasies can be a healthy way to cope with all that stress. At least, as long as they're kept at a distance.
Rylee (Kate Hallett) has an understandable need for escapism. In addition to the usual problems, she lost her mother a few years ago, and there's no one she feels comfortable talking to about her complicated feelings. Her father (Justin Chatwin) loves her very much and tries hard to fill the void, but he himself hasn't quite gotten over it yet, plus he has his job as a police officer and his new partner, Marnie (Amanda Brugel), keeping him busy.
Director: Emma Higgins
Writer: Emma Higgins
Stars: Justin Chatwin, Steven Ogg, Amanda Brugel
Marnie suggests ridiculous things like going to a concert together for fun, as if a teenager would think it's cool to be seen with someone her age. At least there's Sid (Aya Furukawa), a friend who has stuck by her through everything and who shares Rylee's passion for singer-songwriter Payton (Herman Tømmeraas), whose picture is plastered all over Rylee's bedroom wall.
Payton is known to have had his own problems. For Rylee, this makes his lyrics seem even more intimate and meaningful. The story is that he's already overcome drug addiction; his good-boy image has been restored. This is what she wants to believe when she goes to see him perform, among a crowd of screaming girls. Unfortunately, it's not the reality. When a missed flight and an accident unexpectedly bring them together, they both try their best to behave like respectful, compassionate, and functional human beings, but he can't hide his fragility for long, and she, for her part, feels compelled to save him. As she tells Sid, "We can make a difference here, in something that really matters."
If you know nothing about addicts or the reasons behind certain social norms, it's not a far-fetched idea. She doesn't plan to take advantage of him sexually. She wants to give him something, since she feels he has given something to her. She is full of love, and that's precisely what he lacks. As the situation spirals out of control, she tries, at every turn, to remain calm, be practical, and do the best she can. It becomes increasingly heartbreaking to watch. Meanwhile, his manager (Steven Ogg) discreetly investigates his disappearance, and it's revealed that this isn't the first time he's gone missing. An alibi is being arranged. No one is going to save him from his supposed savior.
Inevitably, Sweetness has been compared to Misery, but it's a much better film. Rylee isn't a troubled recluse. Despite the problems she's had, she's a very ordinary person. Her attempts to learn how to flirt by imitating what she sees on TikTok make her awkwardness and vulnerability uncomfortably evident. At the concert, she's one of the youngest-looking fans, not so much because of her face, but because of the unsophisticated way she presents herself. The sound design is superbly done, allowing us to understand how personal the experience is for her.
A forest of hands reaches out from the crowd, all reaching for a young man who has been dressed up like a piece of meat. It's a role he's not happy with, and the story he has to tell is also a common one, for someone in his circumstances. They both feel like pieces in a much larger game. It's no wonder they struggle to remember each other's humanity when they are both routinely treated as commodities.
The balance is so delicate that the film could almost have become a romantic comedy, and it is precisely this possibility, this clash between the absurdity that cinema has taught us to expect and the bitterness of real life, that makes it so effective. One of the standout films presented at this year's South by Southwest festival, it is insightful, moving, and a necessary counterpoint to many previous works.
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