Two children in contemporary New Bedford, Massachusetts spend an eventful summer in a beach house with their mother and her boyfriend in Sweet Thing, described as director Alexandre Rockwell’s “poetic, uplifting rendering of childhood.”
The film starring Lana Rockwell, Nico Rockwell, Karyn Parsons and Will Patton which captured the Berlinale Crystal Bear in the Generation K-plus section in 2020 premieres June 18, 2021 at NYC’S IFC Center and virtual cinema outlets.
In Sweet Thing, Billie (Lana Rockwell, Little Feet), a 15-year-old girl who fantasizes Billie Holiday as a sort of fairy godmother, is forced to navigate the evolving challenges of her life while she plays mother to her 11-year-old brother, Nico (Nico Rockwell, Little Feet). They soon meet up with another adolescent, run away from home, and together roam the area free from their parents’ watchful gaze.
Discovering freedom and enchantment among New Bedford’s boats and railway tracks, the trio fantasize about a life of luxury when they break into a posh home, and are able to carry the taste of affluence into their adventures. An ode to that trying age when young people prepare to take their first step into adulthood, Sweet Thing, starring Rockwell’s children Lana and Nico, Karyn Parsons and Will Patton, is an intense but ultimately uplifting, portrait that captures the essence of that time in life when a day can last forever.
Watch the trailer for Sweet Thing.