Fan obsession has been around for decades in cinema, as perfectly evidenced by the success of 1990’s Oscar-winning Misery, and the innumerable films focused on this very topic that have followed in its wake. Anyone who has ever attended a themed convention or a public fan event can see that sometimes, this mania can be a dangerous thing. Easy access to a celebrity also means easy access to questionable behavior. Sweetness presents the fanaticism through the lens of a sociopathic teen obsessed with a hunky, Harry Styles-esque rock star. Suspenseful and engaging, this twisted fangirl nightmare keeps the action in suburbia, every bit a campy character study as a ferocious thrill ride.
Sixteen-year-old Rylee (Kate Hallett) is full-on enamored with Floor Plan frontman Payton Adler (Herman Tømmeraas). She has his pictures plastered up over every inch of her bedroom walls. She follows all the gossip about him. She imagines exactly what she would say to him in person. She blasts his songs everywhere she goes. Payton’s music has gotten Rylee through some very tough times in her life, further adding fuel to the fires of her hormone-addled teen obsession. Now, Rylee finally has a chance to go see Floor Plan in person. By the end of the night, Rylee will have her chance to organically interact with Payton. Even if the reality is very different from Rylee’s expectations, her once-in-a-lifetime experience is about to give new meaning to the phrase “meet and greet.”
Payton accidentally hits Rylee with his car in the parking lot, sparking the perfect opportunity for Rylee to get close to him. He offers her a ride without thinking twice, hoping she will not spoil his public image. However, Payton is in no shape to drive. Despite being open about his struggles with drugs and alcohol, he has clearly not overcome his demons. Payton ends up barfing and flustered in the bathroom of Rylee’s house. In a state of panic and with the help of her sole friend, Sidney (Aya Furukawa), they handcuff Payton to Rylee’s bed temporarily, just for the night. Did fate bring them together? Can Rylee actually help Payton kick his addictions once and for all? As with the best thrillers, an iffy situation goes from bad to worse in a series of dangerously escalating scenarios. If viewers have seen any of the movies that so clearly have inspired Sweetness—from Obsessed to Fear to One Hour Photo to Fatal Attraction—there will be few surprises. However, that never stops the building suspense or enthralling character dynamics from delivering memorably twisted moments.
For a film swirling around a musician, the songs themselves are convincingly catchy. Rylee herself becomes star of the show, quietly becoming more unhinged as we get deeper into the story. Again, her trajectory recalls obsessive characters in movies like May and Office Killer; the biggest difference in this facet though is Rylee’s age. We get a front-row seat into her manipulations. Though the film deeply explores Rylee’s motivations, it rarely gets into the specifics of Rylee’s potential condition. That works perfectly though with the story being told—we don’t need to know why she commits these heinous acts, or how she justifies her sociopathic behavior in her own head. At one point, Sidney directly inquires about what she would love to do to Payton biblically, but Rylee pretends her crush is not sexual in nature. Payton consumes her entirely; she puts all of her stock in this relationship as her grades drop. As Rylee, Kate Hallett steals the show.
There are a few issues here, namely some occasionally rough acting from the supporting players. The connection between Payton and Rylee could go to even wilder extremes. Still, what writer/director Emma Higgins is able to accomplish on such a small budget impresses. As the latest in a long line of obsession movies, Sweetness feels fresh and culturally relevant instead of being a lazy redux of a regurgitated idea. Darker than expected and zinging with the energy of a debut filmmaker in her element, Sweetness explores the addictive nature of celebrity figures through the viewpoint of a crazed teen fan.
Sweetness premiered at 2025’s SXSW Film and TV Festival.
