SXSW Review: ‘Sweetness’ is a Dark, Captivating Tale of Obsession and Accountability

There’s an old expression about never meeting your heroes that rings true time and time again. Admiring and venerating someone from a distance is easy since it’s possible to not perceive or overlook flaws because they’re not entirely apparent. Getting to know someone in person, however, can be radically informative and completely change a previously glossy perception. A chance encounter means that neither party is necessarily prepared for an unpredictable dynamic, and Sweetness takes the opportunity to tell a suspenseful and harrowing – but darkly entertaining – tale of decisions gone wrong when expectations don’t match reality.

Rylee (Kate Hallett) is sixteen years old, and her room is adorned with numerous posters of musician Payton (Herman Tømmeraas). When she goes with her best friend Sidney (Aya Furukawa) to one of his concerts, she leaves feeling dejected and lonely, and while she’s in her own world, she gets lightly hit by a car driven by none other than Payton himself. When he stops to check on her, she realizes that he’s high. A stretch of frightening driving ultimately leads them to Rylee’s house, where she decides that she’s going to take it upon herself to help Payton get clean, holding him hostage in her bedroom against his will.

This film is very accurately described as a cross between Eighth Grade and Misery, a genre hybrid audiences probably didn’t realize they needed but which actually works quite well. The opening scene finds Rylee recording herself and trying to find the best way to speak on-camera before her rehearsal is interrupted by her absent cop father Ron (Justin Chatwin). While she’s obsessed with Payton, she is, like most of today’s teenagers, glued to her phone, and actually meeting Payton is beyond her wildest dreams. But seeing how he is and how that conflicts with her eternal impression of him triggers something that makes her think she can shape him back to who she always thought he was. The setup isn’t quite as grim or isolating as in Misery, but that only adds to its unnerving tone since Rylee is essentially holding Payton captive in a crowded suburban neighborhood where no one has bothered to come looking for him.

This is not a happy or pleasant film, and aside from a brief moment of euphoria when Rylee is at the concert, there are no positive instances of connection. Rylee doesn’t like the woman her father is seeing and shares with Payton that her mother died when she was younger. Ron spends all his time working and attempts to exert authority in the few instances that he’s actually home, leading to a distant relationship that isn’t good for either of them. Sidney doesn’t want to go along with what Rylee is doing but realizes that she’s in far enough that there’s not much she can do to stop her, and Payton just wants to get the hell out of there, uninterested in atoning for his actions or getting to know one of his adoring fans. 

This is a strong feature debut for writer-director Emma Higgins, who manages to find the sweet spot between terrifying and enthralling in her depiction of someone whose fight or flight instincts seriously kick in, with very troubling results. This film works most because of Hallett’s committed and focused performance, and she makes Rylee’s belief that she’s the only one who can help Payton feel sincere, even if audiences can clearly tell that she’s in way over her head and that there’s no way any of the characters emerge unscathed from this ordeal. This is certainly not a comfort watch but it is absolutely captivating, a cautionary tale against so many missteps at each fork in the road and a likely all-too-accurate reflection of some of society and celebrity cultures’ most prominent vices.

Movie Rating: 8/10