I feel like I am usually really good about keeping up with new releases, but Sweetness flew completely under my radar until a day or so ago. The synopsis sounded intriguing, so I jumped on the chance to watch it. And holy shit, is this movie crazy! I can’t believe there is so little buzz surrounding this film, because it’s the type of shocking little indie thriller I could see gaining traction and becoming a small hit in theaters. But, alas, it was doomed to go straight to the black hole of digital releases… but, hopefully it will still find its audience.

WHAT IS SWEETNESS ALL ABOUT?

Sweetness follows Rylee, a teenage girl who is still reeling from the loss of her mother. She finds solace in the songs of her idol, emo-pop star Peyton. A chance encounter at one of his concerts, leads to Rylee discovering that Peyton has relapsed. In an effort to get him to withdrawal and quit for good, she holds him hostage in her house. All Rylee wants to do is save Peyton from his own demons… and she will not let anyone stop her.

THE THEMES OF THE FILM RESONATE STRONGLY, WITHOUT FEELING HEAVY-HANDED…

Sweetness on its exterior, comes off as a bit of a teeny-bopper thriller. But, it has a lot of layers to it. The film tackles themes about the power of celebrity, obsessive fan culture, grief, isolation, and addiction. None of it feels heavy-handed in any way either. The themes just feel like a jumping off point for writer/director Emma Higgins to get sick and twisted with them.

The addiction part of the story is especially well-told. Peyton preaches in interviews and in songs about his recovery, but truthfully, he is using in secrecy. There is a particularly astute moment in Sweetness where Rylee asks Peyton why he uses. At first, he comes up with a bunch of elaborate excuses why and then folds by admitting that there’s not really “one good” reason that he does. It’s a scene of brutal honesty, of an addict finally admitting to himself that all of the excuses in his head of why he continues to misuse susbtances… are just that; excuses.

I also love the overall idea of the film too; basically it’s a riff on Misery, but instead of a kidnapped author who killed off his main character, it’s a kidnapped musician who needs to detox off of drugs.

THE CAST REALLY SELL THIS WHOLE MOVIE…

The acting in Sweetness is also so much better than most films like this. And that is really the key to why this film works so much. The set-up is a little ridiculous, so it was imperative that the actors were able to pull off “the big swings” of the film. The actor playing Peyton, Herman Tømmeraas, is asked to do a lot here. He has to sing and perform on stage, he has to act like he’s fucked up, and then like he is detoxing. Basically he goes from slick, heartthrob popstar to tore-up hot mess, and he completely pulls it off. You believe he is a famous star, and even get that “butterflies in the stomach” rush when Rylee first meets him. And then when he is coming down, you feel for him in his pain, but also conflicted with a tinge of disdain for his actions.

Then there’s relative newcomer Kate Hallett as young Rylee, and she is just fucking nuts in this movie. Just like her counterpart, she has a tightrope act she has to navigate. Hallett must at once terrify the audience, but also have them empathize with her too. And somehow she is able to do it. You feel every ounce of her angst and grief, but by the end, you also have the feeling that you definitely wouldn’t want to run into her in a dark alley. She’s a sick little girl, but there’s a part of you that wants to see her get away with it. Kind of.

THIS “DESCENT INTO MADNESS” IS WILDLY UNPREDICTABLE…

The best part of Sweetness is that it is (mostly) wildly unpredictable. The way Emma Higgins is able to ratchet up the tension and take the story into “cookoo for cocoa puffs” territory, but also ground it in a sort of fucked-up reality, is impressive. I kept getting shocked time and time again, as Rylee’s descent into madness continued. Because of this, I had a lot of fun with Sweetness… and the ending really delivered the one-two punch I was hoping for.

SWEETNESS SHOULD HAVE TAKEN IT EVEN FARTHER THOUGH…

There are some issues though. While I think Emma Higgins took this film into some crazy territory, I also had the feeling that she didn’t go far enough with it. I think she tip-toed around the brutal violence, because she wanted you to still empathize with the main character, at least a little bit. But, at some point, Rylee goes off the deep end anyways and you really shouldn’t have compassion for her any longer… so, Higgins should have just gone ape-shit, instead of holding back. If she had, Sweetness would have been truly memorable.

I also think that if you hated all of the music scenes in Smile 2 or Shyamalan’s Trap… you’re probably going to get irritated with this movie too. There’s a lot of original emo-pop songs in this film, that I quite enjoyed, but if you don’t like that type of music… the needledrops are going to annoy the fuck out of you. But for me, I immediately went to Spotify to add the songs to my Playlist, so… I think most people (especially the target audience) will enjoy that aspect of the film.

IS SWEETNESS WORTH CHECKING OUT?

All in all, Sweetness was a sweet little surprise that I just sunk my teeth into. It’s a layered film, with themes that will resonate with most viewers in some way. It also ratchets up the insanity slowly by surely until it reaches its devilish conclusion. Although I really wish the writer/director took it even farther, I still had a damn good time with this movie. Don’t sleep on Sweetness if you’re a fan of psychological thrillers.

Sweetness is Streaming Now on PVOD.

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