A Young Woman Faces Off With a Sea Creature in SWEETHEART - Sundance Review

A young woman finds herself stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean and while there she realizes that she is being stalked by a sea creature from the dark and treacherous depths of the ocean.

That is the basic plot for a new horror thriller called Sweetheart. It’s a simple yet solid concept that I had the chance to see while I was at Sundance this year. While the film had some issues, I did like it! I think that the concept was great, but it could have been executed better.

The movie would have worked great as a 15 to 20 minute short film, but the the pacing was way off for a feature length film. It was hard to keep my interest during scenes where nothing was really happening. When the story was progressing though, the movie was good.

The film was shot well, and the creature design and visual effects were pretty cool, but the script and dialogue could have used some help. Just a read-through from someone to smooth things out because it was rough. I’d say it was a pretty good student film.

Again, I loved the concept! I think that there was a great movie there to be made, but they just needed the story to be more interesting. It was also filled with moments that you think are going to lead up to something, some big interesting reveal, but then nothing happens. The audience is just left hanging. I guess the audience is just supposed to let their imagination fill in the blanks.

The movie was directed by JD Dillard, who previously directed the film Slight, which is a film I loved! I understand that it’s not easy to get a movie made. So even though I didn’t think the film was the greatest, I applaud the director, cast, and crew for going out there and getting it made!

Here’s the official synopsis:

Washing ashore onto a desolate island, Jen (Kiersey Clemons) has already survived a harrowing ordeal. Stranded and alone, she searches for shelter. Finding only the scattered remains of a long-abandoned campground and weary from her terrible journey, she collapses in hope of a peaceful rest. But night is when it’s most dangerous here. That’s when the creature comes. And when it slithers out of the water, it must feed.