62
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorRailing against conventions has the potential to become conventional after a while, and the film eventually suffers from a case of diminishing returns, but there’s more than enough to warrant such lulls. And of course Williams ends it with a lot of swagger.
- 83The PlaylistRafaela Sales RossThe PlaylistRafaela Sales RossShot in a way reminiscent of classic ’70s cinema while commenting on the woes of the contemporary, Williams builds a timely film that still feels timeless, an expansive chronicling of a slice of America ripe for many a rewatch.
- 80SlashfilmLex BriscusoSlashfilmLex BriscusoOverall, the film is on point with its incredibly smart casting, and that victory aids in fully shaping the world Price Williams and Pinkerton concocted in their zany witch's cauldron.
- 80VarietyCatherine BrayVarietyCatherine BrayThe film is intriguingly anthropological in its take on America as a subject, viewed less through the prism of what American might signify as a nation, than how America might feel as an experience — there’s a sense of disintegration and incipient violence seeping through everything, which occasionally explodes to entertaining effect, but there’s clearly deep affection there too.
- 75Paste MagazineBrianna ZiglerPaste MagazineBrianna ZiglerI found myself oscillating between being impressed by The Sweet East and feeling like it was trying very hard to impress me. And it did, though probably less than it intended.
- 67IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichThis is a fun — and sometimes very funny — movie that is virtually impossible to make fun of in return, and at the end of the day, that might be the only metric of success that matters to it.
- 60Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonTalia Ryder gives a magnetic performance, providing an anchor for a film that is amusing and electric but mostly uneven.
- 60Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonScreen RantPatrice WitherspoonIf nothing else, it's best to walk into Sean Price Williams’ feature debut, The Sweet East, as a satire decorated with light political and human commentary and wild excitement that never lets up.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeThe Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeThe Sweet East provides easy jabs and the occasional laugh, but never seems to figure out what it wants to say.
- 38Slant MagazineSlant MagazineSean Price Williams’s solo feature directorial debut is pretty fuzzy on what it wants its national tour of brainless dogma to mean.