Sweet Sue

After getting stood up on a dinner date at the start of the film, Sweet Sue sees the eponymous Sue (Maggie O’Neil) meet a burly biker named Ron (Tony Pitts) at her brother’s funeral. Sparks fly between the pair as they strike up a romance. However, their relationship hits a snag when Sue meets Ron’s son Anthony (Harry Trevaldwyn), an openly queer social media influencer with dreams of becoming a dancer, and a sugar daddy (Jeff Rawle) who buys him £800 trainers. Although Sue and Anthony get on well at first, they lock heads after Sue cruelly laughs at his terrible dancing and he posts a scathing vlog about her in response.

Although the plot is somewhat thin, with it taking until halfway through the runtime for the main conflict to arise, writer-director Leo Leigh has nevertheless created a wonderfully weird feature debut that has some genuine heart underneath its collection of peculiar characters.

The most notable thing about this film is its tone. There’s a bleak absurdness running through the heart of Sweet Sue that’s found in everything from its strange soundtrack to the characters’ need to frequently mock each other’s misery, the funniest of which sees Sue and Ron keel over in hysterics over the story of a man’s breakdown in the woods after his mother’s death. Every character is a caricature of their worst traits, however, a touching ending shows that even the most self-obsessed of these people are still capable of achieving some form of redemption.

Below the surrealness of it all, there’s an interesting depiction of masculinity to be found here. Ron, while he never says it, is uncomfortable with Anthony’s sexuality. He rarely speaks a word to him other than when he’s voicing his displeasure about being teased by him in public, and he uses his motorcycle helmet like a comfort blanket for his own masculinity, retreating into it when things get too much. Though Leigh never ventures much further into this subject, its inclusion is another compelling layer to this flick’s three-person character study.

Despite taking some time to get going, Sweet Sue still thoroughly delights thanks to its oddball charm.

Andrew Murray

Sweet Sue is released in select cinemas on 22^nd December 2023.

Watch the trailer for Sweet Sue here: