Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

Sweet Song

Play trailer Poster for Sweet Song 2019 1h 40m Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
40% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 50% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Paul and Myriam hire Louise, an experienced nanny, to look after their two kids. But as Louise makes herself indispensable to the family, she starts revealing her true self and her behavior becomes more and more unsettling to those around her.
Watch on Prime Video Stream Now

Where to Watch

Sweet Song

Critics Reviews

View All (10) Critics Reviews
Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) A discomfiting character study - and excellent vehicle for Viard - stuck with an ending it can't really handle. Rated: 3/5 Nov 27, 2020 Full Review Wendy Ide Observer (UK) This is crass and exploitative stuff that feels too contrived - despite the child peril, lingering shots of knives and the increasingly demented behaviour of Louise - to build much in the way of real tension. Rated: 2/5 Jan 12, 2020 Full Review Peter Bradshaw Guardian [A] strained and unsatisfying bad-nanny drama... Rated: 2/5 Jan 8, 2020 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com …a character study, not a thriller; we don’t have or needs cats leaping through shattering glass windows for cheap jump scares here…an excellent film, well worth Viard’s César nomination for best actress… Rated: 4/5 Jul 14, 2024 Full Review Gisela Savdie El Heraldo Although the acting is believable, the film does not seem to have a clear orientation towards the main character, leaving a feeling of emptiness after the suspected ending [Full review in Spanish] Dec 18, 2022 Full Review Marshall Shaffer Vague Visages The film sneaks up on you, just as the character does to Myriam and Paul. By the time Louise's parasitism emerges, it's too late to stop what's coming. May 2, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (4) audience reviews
Megan e This is a good adaptation of the Leila Slimani novel, which was inspired by true events. Good acting. The setting and music are particularly eerie and set up the film well. 3.5 stars Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/04/24 Full Review Ian W Strange film. Although the tension builds, it's not exactly edge of your seat stuff. Quite a shocking ending nevertheless. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Liam D It's both a throwback to 90s thrillers but also a good character study with a terrific performance by Karine Viard Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Strong performances from all concerned; assured direction from Borteleau coupled with Alexis Kavyrchine's keen cinematography and a deft edit from Laurence Briaud. This is a slow-burn, episodic drama. Borleteau's understated wit at the opening, and perpetual parsing of viewpoints — including those of both infants — allows just enough tension to build from, at first, the subtlest of lapses. Fractionally odd reactions evolve into isolated moments of inappropriate behaviour which become, spasmodically but increasingly, bizarre — and Viard is predictably electric, remaining almost po-faced until very close to the finale whilst giving us the truest understanding of the life-giving draw of a stable family for which this single older woman, who has somehow come to lose her own husband and daughter, clearly aches. I have to say, it kept me gripped. I have not read the book (nor researched the original case which took place in New York in 2012), so cannot comment on how faithful this film is to either. But it does seem to me that many Anglophone critics have been unduly harsh, implying an inferior take on classic movie tropes. My palate may be less jaded as I never saw "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" to which many refer; and maybe some post-Me-Too elements of deconstruction just fly over my head? (To be fair, I predict low scores on the Bechdel test.) French reviewers seem largely impressed. I will add that Borteleau has chosen a tale that also reverses certain modern clichés: nanny Louise is neither young nor foreign — a slightly older white woman with surprisingly mid-C20th attitudes toward child-rearing and thrift which unnerve her young, cosmopolitan employers; and this tale unfolds in relentlessly straight sequence — start to finish, with no flashbacks and few jump cuts. We must live it alongside (flitting between) each of the protagonists, and form our own opinion. If you are prepared to take it on its own terms — especially if intrigued by subtle explorations of mental or emotional disturbance — you won't be disappointed. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Sweet Song

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Custody 96% 85% Custody Watchlist TRAILER for Custody Inconceivable 38% 59% Inconceivable Watchlist TRAILER for Inconceivable Greta 61% 42% Greta Watchlist TRAILER for Greta Before I Go to Sleep 36% 40% Before I Go to Sleep Watchlist The Intruder 35% 67% The Intruder Watchlist TRAILER for The Intruder Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Paul and Myriam hire Louise, an experienced nanny, to look after their two kids. But as Louise makes herself indispensable to the family, she starts revealing her true self and her behavior becomes more and more unsettling to those around her.
Director
Lucie Borleteau
Producer
Pascal Caucheteux, Grégoire Sorlat, Philippe Godeau, Nathalie Gastaldo
Screenwriter
Lucie Borleteau, Jérémie Elkaïm, Maïwenn, Leïla Slimani
Production Co
France 3 Cinéma, Why Not Productions, StudioCanal, Pan Européenne
Genre
Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 3, 2020
Runtime
1h 40m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
Most Popular at Home Now