Sweetie

R

Released Sep 17, 1989

1h 37m

Comedy

Drama

List

90%

20 Reviews

Tomatometer

74%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Dawn (Geneviève Lemon), who goes by Sweetie, is plump, lively and somewhat delusional, standing in sharp contrast to her wiry and gloomy sister, Kay (Karen Colston), a sullen factory worker. Kay is pulled out of her day-to-day existence by Dawn's return to their town, and the girls attempt to reconnect with their parents, Flo (Dorothy Barry) and Gordon (Jon Darling), who are undergoing serious marital problems. As the family spends time together, their many issues rise to the surface.

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Joan N

Hilarious, disturbing, memorably strange.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/23/24

Full Review

Jack B

If you find mental illness amusing or entertaining, this might just be a winner for you. But this viewer found the whole movie filled with strange and annoying characters. Jane Campion, inexplicably, thrills most professional critics. I am just your typical middle class audience member who prefers his movies to make sense. I think it is telling that Sweetie grossed less than $1 million worldwide.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/18/23

Full Review

Dave S

Sweetie, Jane Campion's feature debut, tells the story of the relationship between sisters Sweetie (Genevieve Lemon) and Kay (Karen Colston), both of whom suffer from mental illness and social anxiety. It's an effectively uncomfortable journey as the two young women try to cobble together some semblance of the way they envision their lives – one seeking fame as a singer while the other attempts to establish her perception of domesticity. It's compelling and powerful stuff, thanks primarily to Campion's ability, even early on in her impressive career, to compose shots that are visually interesting and almost always haunting.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of my favorite movies of all time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/28/22

Full Review

s r

I was frustrated with this one.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Relentless and worth it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

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Jane Campion

Director

Geneviève Lemon

Dawn aka Sweetie

Karen Colston

Kay

Tom Lycos

Louis

Jon Darling

Gordon

Dorothy Barry

Flo

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Jane Campion’s first theatrical feature has just about everything a great film should have. Above all it boasts the creation of a world peculiarly its own.

May 24, 2022

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Most movies slide right through our minds without hitting anything. This one screams and shouts every step of the way.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Desson Thomson

Washington Post

It's hard to sum up Sweetie, which happens to be one of the movie's strengths.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Elizabeth Pincus

Gay Community News (Boston)

Sweetie bombs ahead with almost unbearable intensity. The overall effect is a visceral captivation that lingers on, disturbingly.

Sep 22, 2022

Full Review

Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

Dark stuff, but shot through with a giddy wit that never quite crosses over into calculated whimsy.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 22, 2021

Full Review

Monica Dorenkamp

OutWeek

The film becomes more and more of a Freudian fantasy that ultimately only reinforces Images of women as inevitably repressed and borderline hysterical.

May 20, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Dawn (Geneviève Lemon), who goes by Sweetie, is plump, lively and somewhat delusional, standing in sharp contrast to her wiry and gloomy sister, Kay (Karen Colston), a sullen factory worker. Kay is pulled out of her day-to-day existence by Dawn's return to their town, and the girls attempt to reconnect with their parents, Flo (Dorothy Barry) and Gordon (Jon Darling), who are undergoing serious marital problems. As the family spends time together, their many issues rise to the surface.

Director: Jane Campion
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 17, 1989, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $20.4K
Runtime: 1h 37m

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