Sweetheart

Sweetheart (2021) is a movie from the UK that was written and directed by Marley Morrison. It stars Nell Barlow as AJ, a troubled, depressed adolescent. Jo Hartley portrays Tina, her mother. Ella-Rae Smith is Isla, a lifeguard at the caravan beach resort where the family goes for a vacation.

AJ is the protagonist, so we naturally want to see things her way. However, she's hard to like. In movies, as in life, sullen depressed people pull you down, even when you try to lift them up. That's how the movie starts, and the plot continues from there.

This is a pretty good film, especially because the actors are talented professionals. It's definitely not a feel-good movie, although it has its moments. We saw Sweetheart virtually as part of ImageOut, the outstanding Rochester LGBT Film Festival. The movie has an IMDb rating of 6.9. I agreed, and rated it 7.

When I was in my late teen's, Bill Forsyth's "Gregory's Girl" perfectly epitomised the angst of the school years' emotions I'd left behind me. And I was very much heterosexual. With "Sweetheart", Marley Morrison in an astonishing feature debut delivers a "Gregory's Girl" for today's much more sexually fluid times.

Positives:

• What a great ensemble cast! It's all headed up by Nell Barlow, amazingly in her feature debut. Nell manages to perfectly deliver the hair-pullingly frustrating unpredictability of a teenage girl: always planning to go off doing something worthy like "knitting jumpers for elephants in Indonesia". But she manages to keep the portrayal just the right side of parody, not straying into 'Kevin and Perry' territory. "What's wrong with you?" asks her mother. "I'm 17. Everything's wrong with me" she replies. It's an immaculate performance for someone so young.

• Jo Hartley is also fabulous as A. J.'s mum, a lost soul struggling with her own worries, without having those of AJ to add to them. It's not portrayed as a typical 'Mum v Teen' battle, but beautifully nuanced. "Just because you're a lesbian now, it doesn't mean you have to dress like a boy" she pleads with A. J.
• If you're trying to place her, Ella Rae-Smith was the striking girl in the baseball cap in Netflix's "The Stranger". She is also wonderful here, as the 'hot girl' who you think has it all but is underneath deeply troubled and conflicted. A sex scene (beautifully lit and filmed - by either Emily Almond Barr or Matthew Wicks - manages to show absolutely nothing but is deliciously erotic as a result.

• The writing by Marley Morrison feels very autobiographical. And, as I found through reading this Guardian article about Morrison's gender-journey, there is a lot of personal experience in here. It's clever that the film is claustrophobically set in the remote holiday park (actually the real Freshwater Beach Holiday Park near Bridport on the Dorset coast). If it had been set in a big city like London, AJ could have constantly fled from her feelings, never resolving them. Here, she is constantly running into Isla.... there is no escape.

• I also very much liked the relationship written between A. J. and Steve. Steve is almost the safety valve on the pressure cooker, always helpfully allowing some steam to escape. It adds warmth to the story.

• For such an indie picture, there's a range of great tunes on the soundtrack: mostly from bands I have never heard of (probably making it affordable). I'm not sure if there's to be a soundtrack album released, but it's worth a listen if so.

Negatives:

• I wasn't fond of the sound mix on the film. Some of the dialogue was indistinct.

• A. J. gives us an occasional running commentary of her thoughts as a voiceover. Regular readers of my blog will know my thoughts on this subject! I'm not sure if it added much to the story: a 'show-not-tell' approach would have been my preference.

Summary Thoughts on "Sweetheart": I likened this film to 1980's "Gregory's Girl", and that's a great compliment. That movie made stars out of John Gordon Sinclair and Clare Grogan. I'd predict similar great things for Nell Barlow, Ella Rae-Smith and particularly for writer/director Marley Morrison. I'll very much look forward to Marley's future projects. It's a cracking little British film. It deserves a major cinema release, but I suspect this is one that you might need to hunt out at your less mainstream cinemas. But please do so - it's well worth it. Very much recommended.

(For the full graphical review and video, check out #onemannsmovies on the web, Facebook and Tiktok. Thank-you!)

Looking for a feel good movie that captivates the true side to life in the shoes of a young gay 17 year old?? Sweetheart is definitely everything you need for a film night in... look no further!

Though there are more drugs than perhaps would be realistic at the holiday park this is a story about being a queer teen and working stuff out. AJ is like a real kid and the dynamics and struggles are what every British kid knows. Nobody is in the wrong and it truly builds empathy which is great to see. Honestly a great movie with a great soundtrack and is funny amongst the angst. It is positive about people who struggle with their gender and their sexuality without showing any shame in relation to these issues. So, watch able and the cringe is worth it because of the happiness and sweetness shown.

I watched this for the 'socially awkward' element. I am interested in peoples' experiences and opinions of teens and adults who experience this 'not fitting in'.

There definitely were some scenes where you could see the impact social anxiety has on all of the family, but sadly this was done in and 'Eastenders' way in that it was all melodramatic, shouting, hissy fits, huffs and making up.

That of course is an element of life but you'd think skilled film makers would find a way to film it all from the perspective of the emotions inside of each person, not the external shouting and name calling.

This is typical of BBC programmes where everything has to be what they call gritty, or down to earth. It's a bit sad that that's the only way they think they can sell a show.

There were a few odd good bits in mainly from Nell Barlow who I've never seen but really liked. She seemed authentic and I noticed things she did which mirrored actions of socially awkward people that I know.

I gave this a 5 mostly for Barlow, but sadly the film as a whole was mishandled by poor dialogue, videography and direction.