Short Film Review: The Sweetening

‘The Sweetening’ Adds a Little Spice to a Mundane Life

By Monica Sztybel

Imagine finding the one, the person who gets you, who knows and loves everything about you.  What if you could meet that person, only they aren’t a person at all?  Instead it is a virtual encounter.  A computer-generated companion that only you can see and hear, and in some ways even touch. The Sweetening explores what can happen when the unreal feels real.

Like most of us, Sadie (Grace Rowe) has regrets.  She wishes her life was different.  She is lonely, but refuses to admit it to anyone.  Perhaps she doesn’t realize it until she meets Jack (Matt Houston)?  He’s everything she wants, handsome, charming and attentive.  He also seems to know everything and love everything about her.  How can she not fall for someone like him? 

The film starts with Sadie sitting on a park bench, holding an ice cream cone. She is alone with her thoughts, her narration touching upon her feelings, dealing with her regret and her wish to turn back the clock and fix what went wrong.  

A flashback tells the story of her chance meeting with Jack in a flower shop.  Everything seems perfect.  The flowers are beautiful.  He’s attractive.  But the flowers have no scent.  This is our first clue that the scene isn’t real.  Sadie spends a lot of time with Jack.  He comes over for dinner, and they make love.  But the next morning she rolls over and a different man is sleeping next to her.  Who is he?  Her husband.

He asks her about the project she’s working on, beta testing a new software program.  She’s distant with him, cold despite his interest.  Once she is alone she puts a contact lens in her eye, but it’s no ordinary contact.  It’s a mini computer that has a collection of “people” she can interact with.  A listing gives her options from a race car driver to a ballerina.  She can even choose a criminal.  This time around, Sadie selects “hacker”.  A woman appears.  Sadie asks her, “Are you real?”

“Are you real?” the woman replies.

Sadie asks her what she knows about virtual encounters.  Soon the scene changes and we see her with Jack again, except this time his name is Daniel.  His demeanor is different, but she still enjoys his company.  They go to the amusement park, share cotton candy and play in the arcade.

The problem with beta testing is that there is an endpoint.  This is something Sadie forgets until it’s too late.  Her husband and kids have left her, because she has fallen in love with someone else.  And now that someone else is gone.  Instead, the administrator of the program appears, insisting that Sadie take the Exit Interview and give her feedback on the experience.

The film ends with the same scene as in the beginning: Sadie sitting on a park bench, holding an ice cream cone.  Soon her children arrive, take the ice cream from her, and run off to play.  Her husband sits down beside her and tells her he wants to work it out, no matter what.  Sadie smiles as the scene fades out. But is this truly happening or another virtual reality that she created? 

In the opening narration of the film, Sadie said that she never admitted anything when she agreed to take on the job of testing the program, and yet her virtual mate knew so much about her.  At first, she questions whether the program had a way to delve into her deepest desires.  Or maybe it was she who embellished them?  She is not sure herself.

Grace Rowe not only stars in The Sweetening but is also the writer/director and producer.  She has also written and produced two other short films, and has acted in several TV series, including a recurring role in Gray’s Anatomy.  She has also produces a web series on YouTube called The Rowe Show.

The Sweetening has won awards at the Atlanta Scifi Film Festival and The Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival, and was the Official Selection at several film fests, including the Austin Short Film Festival and The Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.

https://vimeo.com/201993681

https://www.gracerowe.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/4gracerowe

(Originally published by Monologue Blogger in 2017. They no longer provide short film reviews.)

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