Sweetie

The film centers on Flo and Gordon, whose marriage is unraveling as their two daughters, Dawn ('Sweetie') and Kay, grow up under their unstable dynamic. Dawn is lively but delusional and self-centered, while Kay is cautious, superstitious, and skeptical of her sister's influence. The parents' fraying relationship sets the stage for the family tensions that follow.

Kay becomes devoted to Louis after a fortune teller's prophecy suggests she will end up with him. This superstition foreshadows the strain in her relationships and fuels the family conflicts to come. Louis is Kay's boyfriend, and their bond becomes a focal point of the film.

Louis plants a tree in the yard, hoping to start a family symbol and growth for the household. Kay feels a deep foreboding and uproots the tree, hiding it away, signaling a chilling break in their bond. The act marks a turning point in their fragile relationship.

After an absence, Sweetie returns with her druggie lover and producer, Bob. She immediately asserts control over the family, intimidating and abusing others. The household begins to fracture under her volatile influence.

Flo admits he indulges Sweetie's behavior, and Gordon chooses to overlook the problem out of love. Sweetie's emotional volatility disrupts the entire household and erodes any sense of stability. The family struggles to respond to her unpredictable mood swings.

Throughout the film, there are flashbacks to Sweetie dancing, singing, and performing small, circus-like tricks with Gordon's assistance. These memories reveal the family's conflicted history and Gordon's complicity in Sweetie's illusions. They contrast with the present chaos to show how far things have drifted.

Sweetie's volatility leads to physical destruction: she ruins Kay's clothes and breaks furniture. The family tries to defend themselves or forgive, but the pattern shows how her presence relentlessly destabilizes the home. Her unpredictable outbursts overshadow any affection left.

As tension mounts, Louis ends things with Kay, ending their fragile alliance. The breakup intensifies the already tense dynamics and challenges Kay's beliefs about love and fate. The couple's separation undercuts the power of the fortune-teller's prophecy.

The film shows a series of circular fights where Sweetie rages, the family forgives her, and her sweetness temporarily returns. Each cycle wears the family down and deepens the sense that normalcy is constantly slipping away. The pattern highlights the difficulty of healing.

Sweetie strips off her clothes, paints her body black, and hides in her childhood tree house. Her family pleads for her to come down, but she refuses and shakes the fort, deepening the isolation. The scene marks a peak in Sweetie's unraveling.

The tree house fort collapses as Sweetie continues to shake it. She is killed in the fall, and Flo is injured in the accident. The family is left to reckon with the devastation of Sweetie's demise.

In the aftermath, Sweetie's private interment is briefly disrupted by a tree root. The intrusion symbolizes nature's persistence and the continuing disturbance left in the wake of the tragedy.

Louis and Kay reconcile; the family stops feeling manipulated or agitated by Sweetie's presence. However, the memory of Sweetie's best moments lingers, and Kay's parents maintain an image of her as a little girl. The film closes on a note of fragile acceptance and memory.