a review of 甜妹妹

2022 Criterion Challenge Week 2/Category 8: 1980s I was totally blindsided by how completely off-kilter this whole movie was. Based on the description and the trailer, I expected the title character to be this force of chaos at the center, but I was unprepared for how the movie imbues all of the characters with a similar sense of brokenness. By the time Dawn/Sweetie first appears at the end of the first reel, we've already witnessed her sister Kay stealing a coworker's fiance with nothing but a vague fortuneteller's prophecy, and their whole weird romance. It is to Genevieve Lemon's credit that in her portrayal of Sweetie, she manages to stand out amidst all of this background abnormality as someone who is even more abnormal still.