Sugar Daddy

This movie really surprised me. I had low expectations perhaps. A strong all Canadian cast that normally play supporting roles; a debut writing effort; and a single poor review at the time I watched this. But something pulled me in anyway. I was intrigued to see how Kelly McCormack would be in a lead role as I had only ever seen her as a supporting actor in a SciFi series (Killjoys).

I was truly blown away. Kelly is an amazingly talented performer. Not just in her acting skills but her singing and writing too. The story line was strong and well paced; the cinematography and production well done and the music was perfect. I was drawn into Kelly's character, Darren, feeling the angst she was going through. I was doubly surprised when I realized Kelly was performing her own music.

I do suggest watching this on a big screen with good speakers.

Now if you are expecting some seedy movie about sugar daddies and sugar babies, it isn't that at all. It is just a backdrop to the personal journey Darren goes through which is brought to a solid conclusion.

While Colm Feore and Amanda Brugel were supporting actors, their performances were rock solid. Amanda's screen time was short being only in a handful of scenes but she was very present in this movie.

I am now a Kelly McCormack fan and I really look forward to her future projects.

I don't think this is quite the movie I was expecting it to be. What it is, however, is splendid all the same, and deceptively dark. Star and writer Kelly McCormack has whipped up a terrific screenplay, following protagonist Darren as her ideals, naivete, and illusions set her up for multiple rude awakenings of varying degrees, if not an outright spiral. The film dallies with notions of gender, sex, and social expectations and values, stirring them in like dollops of cookie dough in a vat of ice cream - irregular in size, density, and incidence, but unquestionably contributing to the delicious flavors herein. I also deeply appreciate the place of music in this, and modern expressions of visual art, as they quietly and underhandedly mirror Darren's journey over these 100 minutes. I wasn't entirely sure what it was I was sitting for at the start, but I am so very pleased with the end result - 'Sugar daddy' is fantastic!

I think any basic premise one might read for the picture gives an inaccurate impression of what it actually is. Consider this sentence: "A cash-strapped musician who can't pay her rent becomes an escort on an app for wealthy men and spirals into a dark web of sex and men's control." It sounds like a grim psychological drama, yet even as the story follows Darren in the depths of her personal crisis, it never quite reaches that level of bleakness. This is, instead, more a tale of self-actualization - a tale about an adult who has her assumptions shattered around her, and who has to climb her way up from that wreckage. Along the way McCormack, as writer, gives us gratifyingly smart scene writing, sometimes cutting dialogue, and characters of plentiful complexity. As the star she demonstrates ranged, nuance skill that makes her a solid leading lady, and it's a joy to watch her practice her craft, all the more so because she has a great singing voice. I'm delighted at how excellent music is woven into 'Sugar daddy,' most of it written by Marie-Hélène Delorme and no small amount performed by McCormack herself.

On that note, it's worth again accentuating the visual element, because everyone behind the scenes did a superb job in creating the look and feel of the picture. In this instance I don't even mean so much the filming locations and sets as I do smaller details: mindful, rich use of lighting; fetching costume design, and hair and makeup work; gorgeous effects and choreography; and even Kristin Fieldhouse's cinematography and Christine Armstrong's editing, both wonderfully sharp. This is hardly to leave out Wendy Morgan's expert direction tying together all the many varied elements, including drawing out strong performances from the supporting cast - Colm Feore, Hilary McCormack, and more. And in all other ways this is tremendously well made, perhaps more than one might initially assume based on how little visibility the title has had.

It may not be as intensely absorbing as similar movies to come to call, but I don't think there's any arguing that this is compelling, satisfying, and even rewarding. To the extent that 'Sugar daddy' doesn't have full impact, it's off by only a matter of degrees. Everyone involved has made fine contributions to the success of this feature, in all regards, though given the multiple hats she wears it's safe to say Kelly McCormack stands out above all. I can understand how this may not appeal to all viewers, but I entered with mixed expectations and walk away thoroughly impressed with the movie I've watched. For my part I think this is well worth checking out if you have the chance!

This movie is incredible. The characters are so real and flawed but some are awesome. Amazing film with loads of villains of the story and a beautiful arc. 98 minutes of a real artistic vision and a good story.

Depressed, artsy girl of few words bristles at the avalanche of oppression around her. God, can't the world just sympathize with her plight?!

This is a sub-genre of film that needs to go away. Either that or people need to remember to write an actual story.

Initially I was lured in to watching the 2020 drama movie "Sugar Daddy" given the relatively high rating that the movie had scored here on IMDb; which was as 7.5 on April 6th, 2021. Sure, I hadn't even heard about the movie, nor did I know what it was about. But the title of the movie and the high rating made me have an interest in it. So of course I sat down to watch it.

While running at 99 minutes, this movie was incredibly slow paced. It was so slow paced that it felt like a 180 minute movie. I have never sat through anything that mind-numbingly slow before. And it made the movie suffer terribly from it. In fact, I gave up on the movie with just 17 minutes left to watch. But at that time I was so bored senseless that I just didn't care about the movie anymore, nor did I care about the storyline or characters.

The storyline told in "Sugar Daddy" does have some interesting aspects to it, but it was just way too mundane and devoid of interesting things. The storyline was suffering so terribly from having virtually nothing interesting taking place as the movie trotted on at an unfathomably monotonous pace.

It should be said, though, that the acting performances in the movie were actually quite good. I am not overly familiar with actress Kelly McCormack, but she really put on a strong and believable performance in "Sugar Daddy". Just a shame that the pointless script and storyline held her back. It was also nice to see Colm Feore in the movie, as he delivered a good performance - which he has a tendency of doing in whatever he is in. But again, the lack of a proper script was just serving as an anchor around his legs.

The storyline, as written by Kelly McCormack - whom also starts in the movie herself - was just something that fell short of entertaining me. The movie started out adequately, but the air quickly left the deflating storyline and I was left with something that proved less than enjoyable and entertaining. Needless to say that it was an ordeal to sit through this movie.

My rating of director Wendy Morgan's 2020 movie lands on a mere two out of ten stars, and that is based solely on the acting performances, because the storyline was just a swing and a miss. And with just 17 minutes left to watch of the movie, I can honestly say that I am not returning to finish the movie, because I just have lost all interest in the storyline and character alike.