The Sweet East

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1:38

The Sweet East

2023

1h 44m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

82%

Tomatometer

72 Reviews

55%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

The Sweet East is a picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the United States undertaken by Lillian, a high school senior from South Carolina who gets her first glimpse of the wider world on a class trip to Washington, D.C. Separated from her schoolmates, she embarks on a fractured fairy tale travelogue into America, where she is granted access to a variety of the strange factions that proliferate the present-day unreality of contemporary life.

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Critics Consensus

A consistently amusing satire of modern American life, The Sweet East is so engaging from moment to moment that it's easy to forgive its somewhat hazy thesis.

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Christina Newland

iNews.co.uk

Sep 17, 2024

4/5

It may not always hang together into a perfectly cogent social or political message, but it does feel like a fascinating series of vignettes about just how far we’ve all fallen.

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Catherine Wheatley

Sight & Sound

Apr 2, 2024

The Sweet East reveals itself as an undeniably exhilarating ride, surreal and satirical, and not quite of this world.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

Apr 1, 2024

2/5

Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri are the big draws in this ramshackle American satire that’s equal parts punk swagger and lazy repetition.

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Diego Batlle

Otroscines.com

Feb 2, 2026

3/5

It's clear that Sean Price Williams enjoys the provocative style of 1970s American cinema...but The Sweet East —even with its quirks, arbitrary choices, and significant inconsistencies between scenes—stands on its own. [Full review in Spanish]

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Cameron Ritter

Geek Vibes Nation

Jul 19, 2025

7.5/10

The Sweet East is a powerful debut from Sean Price Williams that depicts both the wonder of adolescence and exploration as well as the absurdity of people and situations we might find ourselves in if we stray too far from home.

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Anna Hoang

Boston Hassle

Jul 14, 2025

3.5/5

Don’t feel pressured to keep at the same pace as the film on your first watch. THE SWEET EAST can be like a cold shower — something that invokes initial resistance, until you find that this is more soothing for your well-being.

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Ghederick Eshmont

Jan 27, 2024

The film is very fun & compelling in the first 45mins…but the final hour is a bit of a slog.

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Chris V

@RT67356260 3 days ago

This film serves up an interesting and darkly humorous perspective on the U.S. in the 2020s with its sleazy and narcissistic underground movements competing to remake the country in their image. It is wonderfully shot on 16mm film and hearkens back to the 1990s indie movie scene. Talia Ryder gives a fine performance as a runaway teen falling through the looking glass. Simon Rex gives an outstanding performance in a supporting role that could have had more screen time.

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Josef G

@Jimmygoombas Aug 15, 2025

One of the most pretentious and boring movies I have ever seen, I could not wait for it to end. Felt like an obnoxious film bro was trying to ape a bad A24 movie; it’s the worst kind of “indie” or “art house” experience you can have. Awful, smug and an absolute chore to sit through

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Apr 29, 2025

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, a história é fraca, os personagens sao fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes para fazer o filme ser bom.

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Valentina V

@RT94071965 Feb 9, 2025

Just loved Lillian and her ability to navigate every situation unscathed, especially when men of all kinds try to ‘trap’ her in some way. Absolutely a cult.

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Bruce W

@RT56774857 Jul 30, 2024

Talia Ryder is incredible. I’m usually not a huge fan of weird indies, but this is an exception

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Sean Price Williams

Director

Talia Ryder

Lillian

Earl Cave

Caleb

Simon Rex

Lawrence

Jacob Elordi

Ian

Jeremy O. Harris

Matthew

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Synopsis

The Sweet East is a picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the United States undertaken by Lillian, a high school senior from South Carolina who gets her first glimpse of the wider world on a class trip to Washington, D.C. Separated from her schoolmates, she embarks on a fractured fairy tale travelogue into America, where she is granted access to a variety of the strange factions that proliferate the present-day unreality of contemporary life.

Director: Sean Price Williams
Producer: Craig Butta, Alex Coco, Alex Ross Perry
Screenwriter: Nick Pinkerton
Distributor: Utopia
Production Co: Base 12 Productions, Marathon Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 1, 2023, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $331.9K
Runtime: 1h 44m

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