Sweet Thing

This small, delicate, late-blooming film is quite lovely, and a throwback to the 1990s/2000s craze for semi-improvised, rough and ready indie film-making.

The connection between the two children was really strong, moving, and rang true.

A soulful, uplifting, but also heartbreaking look at race and poverty's impact on troubled childhood.

What makes this simple story special is the style that the writer and director Alexandre Rockwell brings to the screen.

Ultimately delivers a moving, tousled journey of discovery - but it's through an America that has not existed for decades, if it ever did.

Sweet Thing is creatively shot and bursting with energy, but Rockwell’s biggest ambition is seemingly to replicate a bunch of ideas from other films, to put visuals to his favorite songs and to showcase his talented family.

It's rare for a film dealing with such subjects to fall on the side of optimism, naively misty-eyed or not.

Never amounts to much that's sweet, or magical or tragic or sad.

Even though it paints a bruising picture of dysfunctional family life, Sweet Thing charms with its touching message about childhood resilience.

It's an attractive, engaging work with excellent performances, but it makes things a bit too easy for itself in its vision of the world.