The Sweet East
Sean Price Williams’ directorial feature debut depicts surviving in America the not so beautiful.
This independent film from America finds the photographer Sean Price Williams directing his first solo feature and doing so using a screenplay by the film critic Nick Pinkerton. It won a couple of prizes at the Deauville Film Festival and looked set for recognition as an arthouse movie yet unexpectedly it has found a wider audience. That may indicate that it has the potential to be a cult film especially among young viewers who identify with Lillian the 17-year-old girl whose role is central. But, whatever its fate, I suspect that those who take to this very individual film will either be in that group or else will be those who share with Williams and Pinkerton, both in their forties, a desire to look at life once again from the viewpoint of a teenager. Since I don’t belong to either category, it is hardly surprising that The Sweet East is not a piece that functions on a wavelength that I find attractive.
Having said that, I should stress that I can recognise aspects of this film that have real quality. That is certainly the case when it comes to its leading player, Talia Ryder. She came over well when co-starring with Sidney Flanigan in 2020’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always and here she is the key figure, the one character in an episodic narrative whom we follow throughout. Lillian is a girl who lives in South Carolina and chooses to run away from home and to travel around America’s north east. That makes The Sweet East something of a road movie in the course of which she encounters a range of people all of whom are viewed satirically as examples of contemporary types who reflect the posturing and lack of real values that permeate so much of modern society. They include an anarchist punk in a collective (Earl Cave), two filmmakers (Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy O. Harris) working on a movie set in the 1840s and starring a preening actor (Jacob Elordi), two brothers, Mohammed and Ahmad (Rish Shah and Mazin Akar), involved in an Islamist cult and, most memorably, a professor named Lawrence (Simon Rex). The latter teaches liberal arts and is secretly a white nationalist deeply involved with a neo-Nazi group.
The early scenes in The Sweet East move very fast and the film seeks to engage through its energy and the appeal of Lillian herself. Ryder’s star quality lends to that but equally crucial is the attraction that lies in Lillian being an innocent who survives. If innocence often goes with naivety, here in contrast Lillian is somebody who regularly lies about herself and adjusts her name and history to suit and win over those she encounters. The men she meets may have their own agendas and none more so than Lawrence who talks of Poe but might well be keen on Nabokov (his intentions towards this high school student are entirely apparent when he declares, “Just think of me as a well-wisher”). Nevertheless, Lillian is adept enough to use these men for what she wants and to escape their clutches whenever necessary. Another asset of this film lies in the quality of the performances by the hand-picked supporting cast even if Simon Rex is the only one of them whose role has real substance.
Those who find the tone and style of The Sweet East engaging may be happy with it as it is, but others may share my sense that the longer it goes on the less the film seems to be saying in any truly meaningful way. The satirical intent is there but nothing really builds and if the filmmakers claim to have a love for their country as well as a critical eye that is never effectively expressed. There is a scene involving a walk in the country shared by Lillian and Mohammed which feels oddly sincere and appreciative of America’s natural beauty, but if Mo has seemed to be the one sympathetic male in the film thus far he suddenly develops into yet another figure from whom Lillian needs to escape. Far stronger is the film’s sardonic side, but that’s evident early on and never develops in any significant way. Similarly tone varies: thus featuring talk of Edgar Allan Poe and references to cinema including the work of D.W. Griffith may echo Godard but a sudden burst of extreme violence recalls the films of Gregg Araki. The film’s brand of humour will obviously appeal to some more than to others and the film has won awards, but I found it increasingly unrewarding while continuing to recognise that attitudes to it may largely be a matter of personal taste.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Talia Ryder, Simon Rex, Earl Cave, Ayo Edebiri, Jeremy O. Harris, Jacob Elordi, Rish Shah, Mazin Akar, Gibby Haynes, Jack Irv, Tess MacMillan, Ella Ruban, Keith Poulson.
Dir Sean Price Williams, Pro Craig Butta, Alex Coco and Alex Ross Perry, Screenplay Nick Pinkerton, Ph Sean Price Williams, Pro Des Madeline Sadowski, Ed Stephen Gurewitz, Music Paul Grimstad, Costumes Jocelyn Pierce.
Base 12 Productions/Marathon St-Utopia.
104 mins. USA. 2023. US Rel: 1 December 2023. UK Rel: 29 March 2024. Cert. 18.
