SWEET GIRL

US, 2021, 110 minutes, Colour.

Jason Momoa, Isabela Merced, Justin Bartha, Amy Brenneman, Raz Jaffrey, Lex Scott Davis, Michael Raymond-James.

Directed by Brian Andrew Mendoza.

This is the kind of action drama, father and daughter on the run, expose of corporate and political corruption, that might have been a star vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger in the past (or Sylvester Stallone, or Jason Statham…). Now it is a star vehicle for Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, who, in the opening sequence, plunges from a Pittsburgh bridge into the river, reminding us of his water film career.

Most of the film, then, is flashback. What was he doing on the bridge? Why did he plunge?

It is revealed that he had a loving wife, a sweet little girl, Rachel (Isabella Merced), Rachel. And there is great sadness, wife and mother suffering from cancer, possibilities for a drug which could relieve the pain, its withdrawal from the market, disputes about the corporation developing the drug and its distribution, political interventions and challenges (as father and daughter watched television programs with Justin Bartha are representing the corporation and Amy Brenneman the politics).

The screenplay emphasises the absolute grief of the father, Ray, his at times being beyond distraught. There is a moment also when the sweet little girl goes to a gym, pounding the punching bag, in a bout with a young man in which she holds his throat, almost choking him. There is an episode on the Pittsburgh subway, Ray meeting with a journalist to open up the corporation case but his becoming victim of an assassin on the train and father and daughter having to escape. The father gatecrashes a social, confronts the rather callous corporation head, fights, kills him.

Which means then that the rest of the film has father and daughter as fugitives, escaping by car, assassins attacking them in a motel and their fleeing, hiding in the countryside, Rachel, without her father’s knowledge, keeps phoning one of the detectives pursuing the case, informing her of what is happening, the detective feeling compassion for the young girl.

And then, there is a jaw-dropping, beyond-belief twist in the plot. The narrative is changed. The perspective is changed. There is still the pursuit of vengeance, Ray on the bridge and plunging. There is also the revelation of corporate bribing, of the politician campaigning for a Senate seat, critique of business and political corruption and a final, cleverly prepared, fight to the death.

While a lot of the film works on the level of fugitives on the run, corruption exposes, there is the question whether audiences will be able to accept the completely unforeseen plot twist.

1. The title, the focus on Rachel, age, experience? Her sweetness? Her experience of deaths? The scene in the boxing ring? And the twist? The irony?
2. The city of Pittsburgh, the vistas, the streets, homes, police, executive officers, police precincts, political offices? The surroundings, the roads, the woods? The musical score?
3. The opening, Ray on the bridge, Detective Meeker urging him down, his plunging into the river? The rest of the film as flashback? Resuming with Ray on the bridge, the twist with Rachel?
4. The attack on business corporations, manipulation of drug prices, withdrawing them from circulation, bribes, political connections, public campaigns, the exposure of corruption?
5. Ray and Rachel, the happy sequences with his wife, her illness, hospital, the drugs, their being withdrawn? Her death?
6. The impact on Ray, a big man, upset, the information about the drugs, the threat with the doctor? At home with Rachel? Sadness, feelings of vengeance? Rachel, her age, the effect of the death, at home, her room, a doll? The sequence in the boxing ring and her almost killing her opponent?
7. Ray, his reaction to the interviews with Simon Keely, Diana Morgan, the companies, politics? Television interviews? The phone call from the journalist, Rachel following Ray, the complex phone instructions and the difficult finding him, the subway, the information, the journalist death? Ray fighting with the assassin?
8. The assassin, later encounters, his killing the head of the company? The tunnel and the sabotage? In the diner, the discussions with Ray and Rachel? And the later confrontation? The fight and his death?
9. Ray, on the road, protecting his daughter, driving, the police tracking them? The motel, the shooters and their deaths? Escaping, hiding in the woods and the snow? Ray’s activity? Driving the car, crash, taking the ute, the tunnel? The attack, the fight? Ray not always victorious, his defeats? In the diner, with the assassin?
10. The police, the investigations, information, tracking and surveillance, helicopter? Rachel and her phone calls, explaining what her father was doing, reaching out? The response of the detective, her associate, wanting to save Rachel?
11. On the bridge, the extraordinary twist, its credibility? Rachel as the opposite of the sweet girl, doing all the action herself, her motivation, being her father, the dive from the bridge, survival, disguise, planning and strategy, the confrontations with the assassin, the confrontation with Diana Morgan?
12. Simon Keely, subordinate, callous, speeches, mixing India with Africa, his drinks, Ray infiltrating the social, as a waiter, spilling the drinks, the confrontation with Keely? Killing him? The irony of the other executive, in the car, the tunnel, the assassin killing him?
13. Diana Morgan, her associates, the deal with the drug company, the bribe, her running for the Senate, the speeches, campaign? Callous? The confrontation with Rachel?
14. An exciting thriller to watch – but the jaw-dropping twist and its dramatic and credibility affect?