The Sweet East

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.

The movie follows a girl named Lillian, who, on a whim, decides to run away and embarks on a journey across America. Along the way, she encounters a series of extreme characters, each representing different facets of society.

Lillian to written to be as apathetic, opinionated, and jaded and for most the movie she remains this way. So I think Lillian serves as a lens through which we observe these encounters, not an actual driver of the plot simply there.

Interestingly, she remains largely unchanged by the experiences she goes through, which for me raises questions about her character's depth. While the diverse individuals she meets have profound stories and perspectives, Lillian's lack of development can make it feel like we're missing out on deeper reflections on these interactions.

This is why the story might have benefited from being a series rather than a standalone film. In a show format, Lillian could have had the space to reflect on her experiences, allowing her character to evolve in response to the people she meets. She doesn't have to change as a person because I think how she was written is also central to the message of the movie but there simply isn't enough breathing room in the movie, and there would have been some wonderfully emotional scenes if there was just the chance to.

Aight. So we're following Lillian who ran away (just for fun) and now she's getting mixed up with all sorts of people. We have some radical artists/activists, some alt right crowd, some actors, some radical religions types. So, I guess, this whole movie supposed to be like a portrait of the country. Or political satire maybe. In reality though, it's very tedious and obnoxious experience.

The main reason - Lillian. She's shallow, superficial, uninteresting human being. She's annoying and frustrating. She got nothing original to say. She's boring and she bored. And not really a compelling or sympathetic character.

Side characters are fine though, but it feels like their potential is wasted on Lillian.

Cinematography is also nice, but not strong enough to carry the whole thing.

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.

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.