Sweethart
Short Films, 06-Jun-2023
Dawn has troublesome sex with her lover and childhood friend. Charlie Stuip directs “Sweethart,” an experimental narrative piece following a couple in their 20s as they encounter disconnects in the bedroom. When Dawn’s boyfriend, Mike, struggles to satisfy her desires for a rougher kind of sex, Dawn gives herself some space. Mike finds Dawn in one of her quiet places and tries to address their earlier argument. For a moment, the two lovers reminisce on the melancholy of memories from childhood. They ultimately decide to return home and try to play an old game. In what seems to be a film where naturalistic, or more colloquial, modes of speaking would make its dialogue, Stuip writes the intimate with a language that is more poetic and Socratic. Rendering comedic moments with some that are more bittersweet, comes a thoughtful piece on emerging into young adulthood and its entanglements with sex. -Jinho Myung. Writer, Director, Editor: Charlie Stuip. Cast: Lucy Urbano, Tom Sosnik. DP: Marcus Batto. Producer: Roma Edwards. Boom Op: Ichtaca Lira. Sound Mixer: Neko. Score: Mikaela Jane.