Sweet Thing

Play trailer

Sweet Thing

2021

1h 31m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

46%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

The story revolves around the two siblings and their struggle to find solid ground in the homes of Adam, their alcoholic father, and Eve, their negligent mother. The children ultimately run away and find a temporary life for themselves around the town of New Bedford, MA. What begins as a disturbing family drama becomes a rousing childhood adventure that, though tragic, is a deeply moving and hopeful testament to the poetry of adventure and the imagination of childhood.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Often heartbreaking yet ultimately uplifting, Sweet Thing captures the wonder and horror of childhood with a deft and tender hand.

Read Critics Reviews

Leigh Singer

Sight & Sound

May 13

The film’s real musical guardian angel is Van Morrison, whose lilting track from Astral Weeks inspired its title. The way the song is resung and its meaning reconfigured throughout the film shows how attuned Rockwell is to his material.

Go to Full Review

Leslie Felperin

Guardian

09/07/2021

4/5

This small, delicate, late-blooming film is quite lovely, and a throwback to the 1990s/2000s craze for semi-improvised, rough and ready indie film-making.

Go to Full Review

Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (LAist)

06/22/2021

The connection between the two children was really strong, moving, and rang true.

Go to Full Review

Ben Flanagan

Vague Visages

09/23/2023

Sweet Thing is creatively shot and bursting with energy, but Rockwell’s biggest ambition is seemingly to replicate a bunch of ideas from other films, to put visuals to his favorite songs and to showcase his talented family.

Go to Full Review

Kevin Wight

The Wee Review

11/17/2021

3

It's rare for a film dealing with such subjects to fall on the side of optimism, naively misty-eyed or not.

Go to Full Review

Ann Lee

Radio Times

09/14/2021

3/5

Even though it paints a bruising picture of dysfunctional family life, Sweet Thing charms with its touching message about childhood resilience.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

isla s

@RT89656869 11/05/2022

I was going to give this film a lower rate, only it did pick up after about an hour. It's quite depressing for the first hour. Filmed in black and white, a warts all depiction of youngish kids living in a dysfunctional, neglectful domestic setting. I'd wrongly assumed the kids would somehow run away earlier in the film than they do (apologies for a potential spoiler there). It became somewhat poignant and even hopeful towards the end. It has the feel of 'The Florida Project' I suppose. A sobering watch, with some nice pieces of music used at key moments, this is ok, possibly worth a watch, yeah.

See more

Steve S

@RT32687682 02/22/2022

A super-independent film made from the heart. This is really what can be done on a shoe string budget. Shot in black and white, the story follows a group of kids as they make their way in a poor part of town. Their home life is consists of a drunk father and abusive step-father. Their adventures take them on some tragic and dangerous sojourns. The film doesn't aim to be more than it is, and that is refreshing. The young performances are good and endearing. Will Patton as the alcoholic father is heartbreaking. There isn't new territory here but its heart is in the right place.

See more

06/20/2021

Wait until you see Karyn Parsons' performance.,. She was unrecognizable as a negligent mother! Beautiful film! And it is streaming online at https://watch.laemmle.com/videos/sweetthing21491/60a6bfcad61b2c000131c097/

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Alexandre Rockwell

Director

Lana Rockwell

Billie

Nico Rockwell

Nico

Jabari Watkins

Malik

M.L. Josepher

Beaux

Karyn Parsons

Eve

My Happy Family

100%

86%

My Happy Family

Watchlist

Ema

88%

63%

Ema

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Ema

Silent Land

91%

%

Silent Land

Watchlist

Ms. Purple

86%

71%

Ms. Purple

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Ms. Purple

Topside

80%

76%

Topside

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Topside

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

The story revolves around the two siblings and their struggle to find solid ground in the homes of Adam, their alcoholic father, and Eve, their negligent mother. The children ultimately run away and find a temporary life for themselves around the town of New Bedford, MA. What begins as a disturbing family drama becomes a rousing childhood adventure that, though tragic, is a deeply moving and hopeful testament to the poetry of adventure and the imagination of childhood.

Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Producer: Louis Anania, Haley Elizabeth Anderson, Kenan Baysal, Jennifer Beals, Sam Rockwell, R.D. Dobson
Screenwriter: Alexandre Rockwell
Distributor: Film Movement
Production Co: Black Horse Productions, Twisted Holdings
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 18, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 24, 2021
Runtime: 1h 31m