There could be many ways to link ‘Alice in Wonderland’, or fantasy, to the coming-of-age theme. Still, could you picture a pixie dream girl ‘Lolita’ in the so-called Wonderland of politics? Such an out-of-space role lands on The Sweet East‘s protagonist, Lilian (Talia Ryder), during her high school field trip.
After an attack in a bar, she leaves her could-be boyfriend and classmates, starting to live with/on people she randomly meets on the street, most of whom hold extremely different political standpoints. Ryder once said that she was worried that the European audience might not get it because the jokes in the film could be exclusively American. As someone with an Asian and European education background and a minimal interest in politics, I can safely say that my lack of background knowledge did not spoil the fun.
It is all about laughing with the protagonist, who might not even be sure what situation she is facing yet still finds it both ridiculous and entertaining. It is about experimenting with the freedom of laughing carelessly without using any annoying buzz-word jargon to point out what you are laughing about, like those desperate to ‘teach girls about politics’.
The Sweet East makes full use of the dramatic nature of politics to highlight the confusing phase of accidentally starting to get involved in almost everything that used to feel distanced without fully understanding it. Nevertheless, it is definitely not all about a young girl’s relationship with politics. Instead, I see it as more about how growing up or navigating different cultural environments can be the most surreal experience ever, where the world can be turned upside down in a blink. In general, how everything, whether we take it for granted or not, can be ridiculed.
The casting of the protagonist undoubtedly also adds to the film’s surrealistic texture. Ryder whose character has no choice but to date a random guy to pay for her cousin’s surgery in Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) and who plays Maya Hawke’s hard-to-get crush in Do Revenge (2022), has always been in the spotlight for her ballerina-like yet gender-neutral beauty. I like her slightly cold yet expressive body language and facial expressions, hinting at her previous training as a dancer because it renders her more value-ambiguous and, therefore, mysterious.
Yet, I cannot help thinking: If it weren’t for her beauty, would we still have this pixie dream girl ‘Lolita’ who ‘magically’ secures every support she needs on her journey alone to unknown lands? To take a step further, why has the coming-of-age genre been obsessed with such a character type? It is difficult to tell whether the film has critically reflected on the exploitation of this image.
3/5
The Sweet East screened as part of Manchester Film Festival 20224 and is set to hit UK cinemas on March 29
