The Sweet East

Just here to say I loved the film. The dialogue is well written, made me laugh and snigger throughout. Simon Rex and Talia Ryder got me glued to the screen. Now I'll have to follow whatever these two are starring in next..

The story of the Sweet East starts with a song, sung by a continuously sullen Lillian.. I loved the song and thought this was such a good way to introduce the audience to the character, because everything you need to know about Lillian is in the delivery of the song.

Then begins a 'coming of age' story, following this smart yet clueless, single-minded yet insecure girl.

It really reminded me of my own teenage self and the way I imitated people, took over habits, was intimidated by peers, had power without realising it, got lost, screwed up, was approached by men, used my looks to my advantage and experimented with it with zero care about the impact it had on others.. I thought this was the most realistic depiction of female teenage-hood I've seen on film in a long time.

Really hope to see more from the director Sean Price Williams and the main actors. Talia Ryder Simon Rex and Ayo Edibiri particularly are very fun to watch.

Since the director was cameraman on the film Good Time, I had high expectations. But the film was a disappointment. Poorly acted, implausible situations, tedious drawn-out conversations (blah blah blah about Edgar Allan Poe etc).

Magic movie? All in wonderland? Punk fairy tale? None of that. The makers are still all adolescents and it shows, there is no fondness in it. Just Fried Air. I imagine Young people who haven't seen many films yet could probably find it special or so

I'm open to a lot ( I read references to John waters in a review ) but after three quarters of an hour it becomes too much for me, so I quit, life is too short to spend on bad movies like this one.

The whole movie feels like a magical fever dream, but in a positive way. There is so much happening during the whole movie that you probably need to watch it a few times in order to identify all the metaphors that were used to create this gem. Alice in Wonderland meets American Girl from the 90s meets kafkaesk Sarcasm and Randomness. I loved it, for me it's a one of a kind movie. Talia Ryder is the absolut perfect choice for Lillian, I don't think anyone else could have pulled off that role as much as she did.

If you are open to something special - give it a try :) You get to know a lot of interesting characters and aspects about what they stand for. 10/10 for me!

This happened and then this happened and after that this happened.

In 1973, a British movie called O Lucky Man was released with a similar story structure. Namely, a protagonist falls from one improbable situation to another whilst passing commentary on the world around us.

In this movie, all sorts of 'thrilling' adventures befall Taila Ryder as she is led from one implausible situation to the next. An activist, ingenue, actress, thief, prisoner, etc. Until its disappointing climax.

Ryder is good as the nonplussed main character, the script seems largely improvised, the plot doesn't exist and the poor quality film stock and directing style made me want to shower after watching it.

It quite good with some reservations.

I have never been to the east coast of North America but watching a film like The Sweet East informs me in surreal and unconventional fashion what a culturally specific and striking region it is. This is a film that won't be for everybody; it's terminally odd, episodic to the point of being untethered, fiercely dialogue driven in some areas and visually shocking in others, a challenging arthouse road picture shot on grainy film stock, wrestling through restless themes in unorthodox fashion with a protagonist who is just south of likeable and just north of antihero. Lillian (Talia Ryder) is a runaway teen who finds herself energetically propelled from one strange encounter to the next along the USA's eclectic eastern seaboard, meeting one bizarre character after another in a free flowing, stream of consciousness vernacular that feels like a twilight zone Americana heroes journey gone slightly awry. Going into this it felt very barebones indie but there are some jarringly recognizable faces peppered in amongst the ensemble including Ayo Edibiri (FX's The Bear), Jacob Elordi (Sofia Coppola's Priscilla) and a standout Simon Rex, an actor I know only for his goofy presence in Scary Movie 3 and whose verbose, eccentric middle aged scholar here was an utterly surprising addition. Many films like this strive to illustrate a sort of dark side to the American dream but this one starts Lillian at a place where that dream isn't even a feasible undertaking, and even when she achieves some semblance of it by accidentally stumbling into the film industry, it's quickly snatched away in almost cartoonishly violent, satirically grotesque form. Like it or hate it, a lot of beautiful creativity and thought (both conscious and unconscious) went into this film and I appreciate it for being such a singular piece of artistic expression. Plus who doesn't love weird s**t? It's like a poet hipster's answer to Midnite Movie grindhouse sensibility and that's something you don't see every day.