"Sweetness" Review: A Coming of Age Stan Fil
If Misery had a kid for this teen generation it would likely be Sweetness. While we’ve seen films like this before (The Fan, The Fanatic, One Hour Photo), this iteration of obsessive fan takes a different approach. It’s the slow unraveling and journey into darkness of its main character that makes Sweetness a haunting iteration.
Rylee (Kate Hallet) is an outcast at her high school. She tries to keep to herself, but most kids make fun of her regardless. Her only friend is Sidney (Aya Furukawa) and the music of the band Floor Plan. The band’s lead singer, Payton (Herman Tømmeraas) is plastered all over her wall. Her Homelife isn’t much of a reprieve with her dad (Justin Chatwin) on the beat as a police officer and her step mom (Amanda Brugel) trying a bit too hard. So when the opportunity to see her favorite band comes along, she goes!
The band plays in front of a large crowd, but it’s not so big that Payton can’t accidentally hit his number one fan with a car in the parking lot after the concert. Payton offers Rylee a ride home. For Payton, it’s a way to not bring attention to his blunder; for Rylee, it’s a divine moment that was meant to be. As events occur, Rylee realizes that she is supposed to save Payton from a drug relapse and she takes matters in to her own hands to ensure that he stays sober.
So much of what makes this film an interesting watch comes down to the mise en scène, based off the cinematography and direction. The opening montage of teens and tweens at a concert is shot with precision. The red concert lights make it look like they’re trapped in hell as they reach out and scream. Shot any other way it would look like girls freaking out at a concert and screaming for their favorite artist, but writer/director Emma Higgins manages to find the horror in the euphoria. Throughout the film, cinematographer Mat Barkley, uses light and the lack thereof to show the journey of Riley as she goes further down a hole of delusion. A frame can tell a thousand stories and the control of the camera is remarkable.
In a film about an obsessed fan, disassociation is prevalent here. Rylee doesn’t realize that her decisions and actions are dangerous because she’s blinded by a mixture of love, teen emotions, and trauma that she hasn’t properly unpacked. Kate Hallett encompasses the closed off loner teen who only comes to life with her friends or music. It’s a subtle, physical performance in which her body, in combination with Emma Lees’ set costumes, allows her to glide between insecure teen to oblivious, lovelorn, and unbalanced Stan. Similarly, Higgins camera focuses on a subject and glides into a wide or vice versa for moments of detachment.
Ultimately, Sweetness plays like a well outlined script, but the moments between each major plot point has a lack of urgency and sometimes believability that makes you feel like putting your earbuds in for parts of the ride. There are some beautifully shot revelations near the end of the film that just don’t hold the intended gravity of the scene as they should have. Transitioning from music videos and shorts, the influences and eye for visual storytelling is quite apparent in Emma Higgins work. Her song choices in the film are spot on as she matches them to key moments in the film. She’s a filmmaker to watch for sure! Sweetness might not become a classic like Misery, but this coming of age tale of a teen who steps into her darkness could have legs for something more down the road.
Rating: C+
