Sweet Girl: A Tale of Vengeance Overshadowed by Ambition
Ray Cooper (Jason Momoa), a hardened fighter, loses his wife due to a major pharmaceutical company pulling a life-saving drug from the market in pursuit of profit. During a live television broadcast, he vows to kill the corporation’s CEO. Two years later, a journalist investigating the businessman’s shady dealings seeks him out. However, a hired killer swiftly eliminates the reporter, forcing Ray and his daughter Rachel (Isabela Merced) to unravel the intricate web of deceit themselves, seeking retribution for their loss.
Jason Momoa as Ray Cooper in “Sweet Girl”
A Genre-Bending Narrative
The synopsis might suggest “Sweet Girl” is a straightforward action-revenge flick, but that’s only partially true. The events summarized in a single paragraph actually unfold over a significant portion of the film’s runtime. Before transforming into a revenge thriller, “Sweet Girl” dabbles in family drama, a tragedy of the common man, and a social commentary on heartless capitalism. For a film with such a clear-cut genre plot that doesn’t require extensive exposition, director Brian Mendoza’s debut takes its time telling its simple story, perhaps because there isn’t much to tell.
Jason Momoa as Ray Cooper in “Sweet Girl”
The Netflix Original Syndrome
Or perhaps the film struggles to choose its focus. “Sweet Girl” suffers from a common ailment of Netflix Originals – particularly those lacking established auteurs – a lack of a central creative vision and insufficient oversight to coalesce disparate ideas into a coherent narrative. At times, it feels like the film was shot from the first draft of the script: the tone and genre shift from scene to scene, oscillating between adrenaline-fueled action, political satire, and a psychological thriller with an M. Night Shyamalan-esque twist. The latter undermines the film’s earlier strengths in favor of short-lived shock value, ultimately adding little to the overall narrative.
Isabela Merced as Rachel in “Sweet Girl”
Unrealized Ambitions
It’s ironic that we might yearn for the days when studio executives kept a close watch on projects, as their quality directly impacted profits, not just streaming numbers. “Sweet Girl” suggests that the classic studio approach, despite its flaws, might have been preferable, as fewer films felt like graveyards of unrealized ambitions. This film has plenty of ambition, from its social commentary to Jason Momoa’s exploration of his dramatic range, and some unconventional narrative choices. For instance, there’s an ambivalent hitman who pursues the protagonists but can also sit down with them in a diner and explain that he understands their actions, it’s just his job.
The portrayal of the main villain hints at a politically charged message, and the twist, despite its absurdity, contains an intriguing idea about the relationship between fathers and their traumatized children. However, none of these interesting concepts are given the time or space they deserve. Despite a runtime of 1 hour and 50 minutes, “Sweet Girl” feels like a proof-of-concept short film, a foundation for someone else to build a proper movie (or, given the current climate, a mediocre series).