Did you ever wish they would remake the movie Misery with a teen “biggest fan” and a rock star victim? That was the feeling I had after seeing the very entertaining movie Sweetness. Young teen Rylee Hill has been a devoted fan of moody rock star Payton has been a member of the group Floor Plan since her mother’s death five years earlier. She feels he has gotten her through hard times and thinks she knows him.
She has one close friend, Sidney (Aya Furukawa), but is otherwise bullied at school. Her dad, Ron (Justin Chatwin) is a cop and is busy with his girlfriend. He seems caring, but doesn’t know how to get close to his daughter. As luck would have it, Floor Plan is playing in Rylee’s town that night, and she and Sydney have tickets. The concert is great but the two become separated after it’s
over. Sidney finds her boyfriend and leaves, and Rylee is wandering around outside the rear entrance when a drunk or drugged Payton nearly runs her over.
He offers to take her home, she can’t believe her luck, meeting the person she’s been in love with for so long. On the way, Peyton has to stop to buy drugs while Rylee waits. She becomes very upset to learn that he has relapsed. His publicity has been insisting that those problems are behind him. She seems to take his drug addiction personally.
Circumstances put him in Rylee’s house that night. Sidney is there waiting; Dad and girlfriend are gone for the weekend. Rylee tells Sidney that they must keep him there,
away from drugs, and handcuffs him to the bed. Rylee can and will do anything in her obsession to get him rehabbed and back to writing. This movie could have ended in any number of ways. How it does end may shock you.
Rylee (Kate Hallett), previously seen in the very excellent Women Talking, turns in a chilling performance under the guidance of director Emma Higgins. The brisk pace and action of the movie push us to the violent events that bring it to a crashing halt. The cast is excellent, in particular, Peyton (Herman Tommeraas). He is a standout in portraying a person battling drug addiction.