‘Midnight at the Paradise’ is a Love Letter to Film, Music, and the City of Toronto
'Midnight at the Paradise' premieres tomorrow at Toronto's Paradise Theatre! I had the pleasure to sit down with Vanessa Matsui to discuss the making of this film.
Sweet Girl (2021)
A man vows to bring justice to those responsible for his wife's death while protecting the only family he has left, his daughter.
5.0 / 5
INCLUVIE SCORE
3.0 / 5
MOVIE SCORE
Representation
Incluvie Movie Reviews
Daleyna
August 25, 2021
5 / 5
INCLUVIE SCORE
3 / 5
MOVIE SCORE
Sweet Girl's Mind-Boggling Twist Makes the Movie... Feminist
Spoilers ahead for Sweet Girl.
The logline for Sweet Girl is,
For the most part, this is true. Sweet Girl centers on Ray Cooper, a man consumed by revenge after big pharmaceutical company BioPrime shelves the life-saving medicine for his wife, who is dying of cancer. After she dies, Ray sets out to kill BioPrime’s CEO and ensure whoever had a hand in his wife’s death suffers. What follows is a years-long warpath during which multiple assassins try to kill him, the FBI gets involved, and his daughter Rachel -- the titular “Sweet Girl” -- is dragged along for the ride.
For the first two acts, this movie recycles the tired revenge trope: a dad/husband must avenge the death of his wife/daughter. It seems this film is yet another hypermasculine revenge flick. The central protagonist is a violent male who sets out to avenge his wife and protect his daughter, the former of which is fridged in the first ten minutes of the movie. This was frustrating to watch because of the way women are used only as props to bolster the male protagonist’s story. Amanda Cooper only exists to die and send Ray on his path toward vengeance. Rachel is only there to keep Ray human and give him someone to protect. Ray Cooper is a stagnant character, stuck in his ways and certainly heading for doom. As soon as he makes his first kill, you begin thinking that this can only end badly.
However, the third act twist changes everything: it turns out that, for most of the movie, Ray was truly Rachel. What!? Let’s back up. When the assassin showed up and stabbed both Ray and the VICE journalist, both of them died. The movie then timeskips to two years later. From this point on, every time Ray is onscreen, he is nothing more than a figment of Rachel’s imagination. Rachel, so overcome with trauma (and possibly suffering from other mental illnesses), assumes the form of her father in her mind in order to cope with his death. Now an orphan, she must take care of herself and imagines her father is the one seeking revenge, allowing her to remain the innocent child -- his "sweet girl" -- who needs to be taken care of, just like how her life used to be.
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Movie Information
A man vows to bring justice to those responsible for his wife's death while protecting the only family he has left, his daughter.
Rating:R
Genre:Action, Thriller, Drama
Directed By:Brian Andrew Mendoza
Written By:Will Staples, Gregg Hurwitz, Philip Eisner
In Theaters:8/20/2021
Box Office:
Runtime:110 minutes
Studio:Pride of Gypsies, ASAP Entertainment, On the Roam
Cast
Brian Andrew Mendoza
Director
Brian Andrew Mendoza
Director
Jason Momoa
Ray Cooper
Isabela Merced
Rachel Cooper
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
Amo Santos
Amy Brenneman
Diana Morgan
Adria Arjona
Amanda Cooper
Milena Rivero
Rachel 11 Y / O
Justin Bartha
Simon Keeley
Raza Jaffrey
Vinod Shah
Lex Scott Davis
FBI Agent Sarah Meeker
Michael Raymond-James
FBI Agent John Rothman
Dominic Fumusa
Sam Walker