Written and directed by Alexandre Rockwell, and utilising a number of his family members in the main cast, Sweet Thing is a bittersweet tale of childhood, mischief, and horrible abuse. The fact that the soundtrack makes use of music familiar to those who have seen True Romance is no surprise really, considering both films feature rather naive central characters who end up running away after striking back at an abuser. But the main characters here are children, which means that the big world around them is all the more dangerous, and it is a lot less likely that we will see this little group maintain their complete freedom.
Lana Rockwell is Billie, a teenager who is also the big sister to Nico (Nico Rockwell). The kids have a problematic father (Will Patton), an alcoholic who can barely look after himself most days, and end up staying with their uncaring mother, Eve (Karyn Parsons). Eve is with a partner, Beaux (M. L. Josepher), who doesn’t really want to be in the company of children. Things keep getting worse until one act of violence leads to Billie and Nico running away, meeting up with another youngster, Malik (Jabari Watkins), who is seeking escape.
Shot mostly in black and white, a stylistic choice that seems to reflect the simple worldview of the young characters, Rockwell makes good choices with the material here, considering what viewers see and what they don’t, and helps himself immensely by having his talented children more than up to the task of carrying the film on their young shoulders.
Aside from all of the talented Rockwell family involved, which includes Parsons (who is Rockwell’s wife and real-life mother of the two children), a good amount of praise deserves to be heaped upon the ever-reliable Patton. I always like seeing him in movies, but he is rarely used as well as he is here. Patton delivers a lovely performance as a father who is incapable of doing the best by his children, his head turned and his mind addled by the alcohol that has enslaved him. Watkins also shines in his supporting role, although everyone benefits from the light being reflected back from the young stars leading this film like they were born to do so.
Rockwell has been crafting a decent-sized filmography for just over thirty years now, and fans of independent cinema will probably love at least one of his films. Sweet Thing shows that he not only still has a great eye and talent, but he also has a family who are just as worthwhile keeping an eye on. I hope they all, whether together or separately, keep working in cinema.
8/10
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