“This coming of age story made on a ‘no-budget’ directed by Marley Morrison is quite frankly the best independent drama of 2021.”
This is Marley Morrison’s British drama, where a young woman (AJ) starts to find out more about herself while on a family vacation. The feature-length film Star’s Nell Barlow and Ella-Rae Smith.
The story concerns a young relatable teenager called AJ (Nell Barlow) who is joined by her ordinary family on a typical British ‘holiday park’. This is where she becomes rather unpredictably fascinated by a young lifeguard called Isla (Ella-Rae Smith).
Nell Barlow and Ella-Rae Smith both give really good performances in their respective parts as AJ and Isla throughout the film. AJ is the teenager who is going to get more than she bargained for while they’re on holiday in the park, while she also educates herself about who she actually is, as she becomes to fall for Isla the lifeguard.
Elsewhere in the film, there are real fine performances to be had from Jo Hartley as Tina (her mum), Sophia Di Martino as Lucy (who is her sister) and Samuel Anderson as Steve (who is Lucy’s partner).
The direction from Morrison (her feature-length directorial debut) is something to be celebrated because she allows the facial expressions to be seen to such a strong and powerful effect throughout, while also keeping a mixed atmosphere happening as well which is the liking charm that kept me hooked.
The script is written to an outstanding standard by the director as she makes the movie really easy to follow and creates good humour too. But even when the feature isn’t funny, you are still able to understand what is happening, because the narrative in the film is definitely always present from beginning to end.
The camera work in this feature film definitely stands out best in terms of the technical aspects, because they made such good use of the locations and also managed to capture the tense and funny moments well, which certainly get the edge-of-the-seat status for me.
Overall, Sweetheart is an outstanding feature-length drama, thanks to the flawless on-screen performances, well-structured direction, a mixed atmosphere throughout, tense moments and some good humour.
Last year, Sweetheart was presented at the BFI London Film Festival for all upcoming UK productions available to international buyers and programmers. Since then, the feature then premiered at the virtual Glasgow Film Festival 2021, has received a huge sweep of positive reviews and won the coveted Audience Award, and also screened at the BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival. The Film has also gone on to win a number of other awards, including nominations but most notably received a BIFA for breakthrough Performance & Producer, as well as most recently making it to the BAFTA long list.
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