Sweet As

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Sweet As
• a review of Sweet As completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 31 May 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Repeatedly abandoned by her mother over the years, Murra (Shantae Barnes-Cowan) has come to rely on herself, occasionally acting out in an effort to be seen but mostly flying under the radar and trying to keep herself safe in a home that is filled with wild parties, substance abuse and potential male predators. When a party gets out of hand, Murra calls the police and, when her mother takes off once again, Murra finds herself on a week-long photography camp for at-risk kids. Youth worker Mitch (Tasma Walton) and Nicaraguan born Fernando (Carlos Sanson Jr.) give each of the participants a camera with which to tell their stories. They are encouraged to view the world from a different perspective, to use their voices in the photographs they take and to tell their stories along the way. Kylie (Mikayla Levy), angry and mad at the world, has no interest in being friends and wants nothing more than to get back to her abusive relationship with an older guy; Elvis (Pedrea Jackson) is venturing out for the first time since he was attacked and left for dead while walking home; and Sean (Andrew Wallace) is consumed by suicidal thoughts. This mixture of highly challenging youth, coupled with Murra’s tendency to take off when things get hard, give Mitch and Fernando a run for their money and despite a slew of poor choices, this trip might just be the one thing that can turn these kids’ lives around. They are finally given a chance to be seen and heard, to prove they are capable and talented, to find their passion and their voices and to forge the most unlikely of friendships.

Family breakdown; Parental neglect and abandonment; Suicidal tendencies; Post traumatic stress.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Murra, Kylie and a couple of random girls fight in a parking lot, hitting, pushing, and wrestling each other.
• Murra jumps into a pool with a heavy skate on her foot, sinking to the bottom. She does this on purpose and is ok but Sean is very angry at her after he tries to help her up and out of the pool. Murra gets angry back until Sean confesses that he thinks about killing himself all the time.
• Sean is standing on the edge of a cliff when Murra finds him after he had gotten lost. It seems as if he is considering jumping off to end his life. Murra throws her torch over the edge, where it smashes onto the ground, before taking Sean’s hand and leading him back to the campsite.
• Elvis tells the others how he was attacked while walking home one day, how a couple of guys grabbed him, roughed him up and left him to die. Before the photography trip, he hadn’t left his home since the incident happened.
• Elvis kills a bush turkey and everyone helps pluck out its feathers so they can cook it.

Material that may scare or disturb children

• Nothing further noted.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Murra’s mother drives off while Murra calls after her, begging her not to leave again. She is hurt and worried and angry. The scene is not scary but likely to be distressing for some children. Murra later explains how her mother repeatedly abandoned her when she was small.

• Nothing further noted.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children over the age of thirteen, including the following:

• Murra places a large cabinet in front of her bedroom door. She is later woken up by loud music and someone banging against the cabinet, trying to get into her room. She goes out into the house to tell her mother what has happened, and a man grabs her, asking her where she is going and telling her that he just wanted her to have some fun. Murra is clearly anxious and disgusted, and her mother doesn’t react to help her daughter until Murra runs off to call the police. Murra is clearly scared as she hides in the bushes outside her house, waiting for help to come. The scene itself is not overly scary as nothing winds up happening, however, it is implied that sexual violence could have taken place.
• There are two extremely creepy men watching Murra and Kylie lie on the ground after smoking what appeared to be some sort of joint. The girls are high and the men are leering as they lay there. Murra suddenly seems to sense danger in the way the men are watching them and insists that they leave. The men begin to get upset, calling Murra a “cock tease” but before anything else can happen some other people appear on the scene. The scene is more disturbing than scary.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• A Pentax camera is used on multiple occasions and the brand name clearly shown.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• A man grabs Murra and indicates that he just wants to have some “fun” with her.
• A man asks Murra if she is going to be drinking alone.
• Kylie tells Murra that she has made a situation “all about dick”.
• Sean admits to never having been kissed. Elvis asks the girls to help a brother out. Both Kylie and Murra refuse to kiss him.
• Murra asks how she would know if a guy really likes her and Kylie replies: “When he wants to fuck you”.
• Kylie tells her mum to keep her hands “off her man”.
• Two random men tell Murra that she is a “cock tease” when she tells Kylie that they both should go.
• Murra and her new-found friends tease each other, saying, “you can’t handle all of this”. Referring to their bodies.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Murra strips down to her underwear to go swimming in a water hole. She encourages Fernando to join her and then comes onto him. He quickly swims away once he realises what she is doing.
• Murra kisses Sean on the cheek.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Murra returns home from school to find that her mother and another individual have passed out on the lounge, clearly having used substances of some sort.
• The remnants of drug use litter Murra’s house, as do numerous beer bottles and cans.
• Murra asks a random man to buy alcohol for her, which he does.
• Murra and the others drink from a box of booze.
• Murra and Kylie take a substance that two older men offer them. The girls lay on the ground looking high and incapacitated.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Repeated use of the terms – Fuck, fuck off and fucking.
• Dork
• Cock teaser
• Poxy parents
• Bitch
• Shit
• Idiot
• Dumb dog
• Dickhead
• Bloody bus
• Asshole
• Piss
• Dave’s Got a Big Ole
• Dick.

In a nutshell

Sweet As is a coming-of-age Australian drama. Written and directed by an indigenous female filmmaker, featuring a largely indigenous soundtrack; beautiful Pilbara-based cinematography; and believable, heartfelt, performances from its young cast, this film gives a unique perspective into the lives of some very different people. While there are some poignant lessons for teens, this is not a film for younger children and it is best suited to older, mature audiences.

The main messages from this movie are that we all have a story to tell, and we all have the right to be seen; that perhaps those who seem most invisible have the greatest tales to tell; and that broken things can be incredibly beautiful, powerful, and meaningful if we simply view them through the right lens.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Courage
• Self-reliance
• Honesty
• Friendship
• Forgiveness.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Running off without telling anyone where you are going.
• Drinking and taking drugs, especially from people you don’t know.
• Putting yourself in dangerous situations.
• Lying about where others are to try to get what you want, even if it puts them in harm’s way.