In the camp of Misery and Hard Candy comes Emma Higgins’ not-so-sugary thriller Sweetness. The music video director introduces audiences to a Gen Z Annie Wilkes, swapping out an injured actor for a drug-addict popstar. It’s a suburban tale of bullied outcasts coming of age through parasocial delusion—when fantasy becomes a nightmare. Higgins’ script is barbed and acerbic despite its tweeny-bopper cosmetics, lulling audiences into a false sense of young adult terror. Sweetness is noisy and nasty, fitting right alongside last year’s idol-centric Smile 2 and Trap.
What Is ‘Sweetness’ About?

Image via SXSW

Kate Hallett stars in the deeply mature role of 16-year-old Rylee, a tomboy target of high school harassment. Her favorite musical artist, Payton Adler’s (Herman Tømmeraas) band Floor Plan, is the only voice to soothe stinging adolescent wounds. As luck would have, Payton is performing locally—Rylee and equally obsessed bestie Sidney (Aya Furukawa) press against the front guard rail, singing along. As fate intervenes, Rylee would be getting more than her ticket’s worth that night. Payton accidentally hits Rylee in the parking lot with his “borrowed” car and offers her a ride home. Unfortunately, Payton’s narcotics abuse rears its head, and Rylee sees the real side of her megacrush—so she vies to save his poisoned soul.
Production designer Electa Porado youthfully designs Rylee’s bedroom sanctuary like any lovestruck teen. Payton’s clippings and posters cover the walls and ceiling, selling innocence and fixation in a way that corrupts Rylee’s sense of reality. Cinematographer Mat Barkley captures the Tiger Beat vibe well and better frames Payton’s sweaty and electric stage performances. Higgins’ past experiences directing bands like Tegan and Sara lend organic glamor to the fame-driven hostage scenario. There’s something amiss in Anywhere, America, which lets visual storytelling convey sinister undertones despite its Pleasantville exterior.
Performances are front and center in Sweetness, anchored by Hallett’s outstanding portrayal of a broken spirit. Higgins’ storytelling comes with a candy-coated psychotic shell—Rylee has to be noticeably unhinged to do what she does—but there’s a sympathetic sorrow to her meltdown. There’s a line from Rylee, something like, “I’ll never change the world, but if I can help you do it, my sacrifice will be worthwhile,” and holy dagger to the heart. Rylee doesn’t want Payton to herself. She’s lost her mother; her closed-off cop father struggles to connect, and everyone except Sidney at school makes her life miserable—her manifested depression hits like a sledgehammer. There’s no justifying her actions, but her martyr’s complex is more potent than another film’s similar character model in Hot Topic duds.
‘Sweetness’ Creates a Tense Coming-of-Age-Story

Image via SXSW

As for its fiercer scenes when Payton screams for his life and tries to escape, don’t expect The Loved Ones or hardcore genre examples. Herman Tømmeraas is a wonderfully sexy and pleading victim, handcuffed to a bed while staring at centerfold shots of his abs that may cause his demise—but bloodshed only pushes so far. Rylee’s petite stature doesn’t make for frantic physical standoffs, but the psychological implications of her caretaking beliefs cross plenty of boundaries. Aya Furukawa plays the nervous accomplice and helps counterbalance Rylee’s twisted intervention, adding another element of distress. As scenes advance and stakes rise, Higgins only spikes tension—there’s no backing down.
However, an inevitability and “stars align” quality to Sweetness makes it a little too perfect of a crime. Steven Ogg’s tour manager can only do so much, searching for his lost talent. Cops can’t get involved until a person is missing for 48 hours, so that’s not an issue. Rylee also has access to private household holding cells for Payton, and staying secret is hardly a problem. There are explanations, and while Higgins sustains a creepy stalker-turned-nurse vibe, an overall ceiling is present where something like Villains does a better job sucking us into domestic prison environments.
Sweetness, like the Jimmy Eat World song, sinks into sweet uncertainty. Higgins makes no mistake about Payton’s predicament. It’s psychologically dreadful and harrowing, keying into the hopelessness of teenage wastelands where self-worth goes to die. Hallett has the impact of Elsie Fisher in Eighth Grade, running away with an authentically immature take on celebrity worship gone awry. They say never meet your heroes—well, Sweetness shows why that mantra works in reverse, too.
Sweetness premiered at the 2025 SXSW Festival.

Sweetness

Sweetness packs an acidic punch, taking a harrowing tween approach to nasty celebrity kidnapping nightmares.

Release Date

March 7, 2025

Runtime

93 minutes

Director

Emma Higgins

Writers

Emma Higgins

Herman Tømmeraas

Payton Adler

Pros & Cons

Kate Hallett is wonderful, real star-making stuff.
Works as both a coming-of-age story and hostage thriller.
It?s no Martyrs, but that doesn?t matter?Higgins still stokes enough tension and paranoia.

It?s got a padded ceiling that stops from ever going too far.
One of those coincidental blueprints where everything works near perfect and hinders the experience a tad.