No assembly RequireD

Every once in awhile you see a film that feels tailor made for you. This does not always mean it is a film you can fully relate to on a personal level, but rather in awe of the filmmakers ability to create the kind of film that you personally seek out. THE SWEET EAST is a film that this critic feels does not get made enough, a film that expands on its premise before you truly realize its main intentions. It is also a film that prides itself in both its cast and crew and it bolsters one of the best ensembles this year. Sean Price Williams may be best known for his cinematography work (Good Time, Her Smell, The Color Wheel), but that work has allowed him to collaborate with old and new friends alike. With a script by Nick Pinkerton and a motley crew of New York City actors (all who have made their big breakouts over the past few years) THE SWEET EAST becomes a down the rabbit hole film deeply rooted in youthful rebellion. It is both an angry film and peaceful observation of the carefree joys of life. Best of all (for this critic) it understands east coast aggression to perfection and has created a space that allows its frustration to run rampant all while playfully mocking the insanity that comes from living on the east side of the country. In doing this THE SWEET EAST doesn’t just feel necessary in its existence but is practically a requirement for any east coaster who is ready to perform their own story.

Lillian (Talia Ryder) is bored. You can instantly see it on the look on her face, here is a teenage girl unimpressed with the peers as she is stuck with them on a class trip to Washington D.C. While here classmates mock the visit to the nation’s capital, that even seems too uninteresting to Lillian. It is as if Lillian already knows how fucked everything is that joining in on its ridicule feels too small when you can instead find adventure somewhere else. Perhaps that is why Williams’ film prologue leads us to an unexpected musical segment that carries us through the credits. Lillian is no damsel in distress but she does feel as if she is a princess trapped in a castle guarded by a generation that is beneath her. Talia Ryder gets to show off her vocal skills as she stares into a mirror seeing about, well a mirror, that gives off the same musical feeling of Shelly Duval in “Popeye,” and while unlike Olive, Lillian is not singing about how a spinach eating man needs her, but rather how she needs herself to go beyond any of this. Her song is however answered by a series of events that while chaotic (early moments involving a bar shooting, and political activists with rich parents) always feel on the level that Lillian is looking for. The film can be seen as a modern Alice in Wonderland but unlike Alice, Lillian appears to be one step ahead of the unusual people she meets. Ryder is such an exciting new talent that broke into the indie scene with her supporting role in “Never rarely Sometimes Always” and like most breakout stars created a supporting role that often outshined its limited role. Here Ryder is a confident and often dangerous young girl that knows how to steer the men she encounters to get to where she wants. It also helps that Lillian is just as problematic as the men she encounters. Her lingo is derogatory and offense (she has no problem continuously using the term “retarded” to describe what she doesn’t like) and when she encounters her first wonderland character, a Nazi sympathizer played by Simon Rex, she has no issue trying to seduce him with her age never coming into question. It is as uncomfortable as it is horrifying to see Rex spew off philosophical nonsense one minute to feel above Lillian, all while falling for her tricks that makes him pay for a five star hotel and buy her upscale lingerie.

But Lillian knows every character she meets is just another means to an end for her. She continuously stumbles along the east coast meeting an array of unusual (but all too familiar) people which includes a hysterical Jeremy O. Harris and Ayo Edebiri as two filmmakers decked in 70’s apparel that want to make a period piece that is both progressive, limited, speaks to the dominance of whiteness while still giving a voice to Blackness. It’s a nonsensical backwards mess that Lillian thrives in as her success keeps moving forward even if the film feels to be progressing backwards through time. Jocelyn Pierce’s costumes allow for the film to be a continuous period piece that feels based in the 90’s only to travel to the 70’s and find itself in colonial America. Even if its playing a role within the film Lillian decked in a formal British ball gown feels reminiscent of Jennifer Connelly in “Labyrinth,” which only amplifies Ryder’s performance as a woman in a strange land but has no trouble commanding herself. She doesn’t need some David Bowie guide to pursue her, she is the only pursing and using every man in her way. Thankfully though the film reaches far beyond just Wonderland strangeness and instead always basks in having its main character be not just a product of teenage rebellion but one that has lost all need to be concerned. It’s both exhilarating as it is frustrating. Lillian as a white girl has far more security than most of the people she meets. Even if they are roadblocks in her journey the film doesn’t shy from the idea most of the people she meets (Nazi Sympathizer not include) are left defeated after meeting her.

While THE SWEET EAST may come off as the type of film where a screening at the Metrograph is full of NYU students (or the IFC Center where the film where have its sole theatrical release) the film is never ashamed to say “this one’s for the kids.” It may be written and directed by two middle aged men it still feels as a passing of the baton to the next generation that can clearly see how screwed we our as a nation but instead of wallow use the idiotic behaviors of the older generation to their benefit. It’s not a mindset that will always pay off, in fact looking at most east coasters still stuck in their hometowns will tell you the same, but it’s a plan that develops over time destroying everyone in their way. Scary? yes but when every chance of normalcy is upended by yet another avoidable world catastrophe do you really expect those coming of age to give a damn about what we have to say?

A

THE SWEET EAST WILL PLAY AT THE IFC CENTER IN NYC. THE FILM IS RELEASED BY UTOPIA