Sweetland – A Character Study Stuck at An Impasse

Canadian writer/director Christian Sparkes has had quite the year and Sweetland marks his second film being released theatrically in the last 3 weeks (in Canada), following the excellent The King Tide. Through his latest film, the Newfoundland director once again explores his relationship with his province, adapting the book of the same name by Michael Crummey. A very Newfoundland story, there’s a sort of kinship there as the beautiful province and coastline are on full display in a compelling story of love and connection. That being said, with two films released within a relatively short amount of time, the comparisons to The King Tide are inevitable. A central character study as opposed to a community study; the emotion is there but what this film lacks is enough character development to push it across the finish line. Running at nearly 2-hours, it may run a touch too long, however, Mark Lewis Jones is well worth the price of admission as an old man trying to hold on to the past in the face of changing times. Behind that stance laid a complicated history with a community that he needed more than his gruff exterior perhaps suggested. Over the course of the film, finding some closure and settling unfinished business, that arc was easily the best part.

Sweetland takes place on a remote Newfoundland island community where countless generations have lived and died together. Now far into the 21st century, much of these isolated communities have been erased in favor of resettlement, moving residents to larger communities as part of a controversial program in response to the government’s ongoing challenges of providing modern services to those communities. The settlement in question was the latest facing resettlement as its residents were offered a generous compensation package in exchange for their leaving. The catch was that they all had to agree to go. However, the only holdout was Moses Sweetland (Jones), a man who lived alone but, as mentioned, shared a long and complicated history with the community. He had a sense of loyalty to the land, stuck in his ways and holding on to past memories with former islanders. As many around him have seemingly long moved on, he refused to move on, concerned about the wellbeing of his eccentric great-nephew Jesse (Cail Turner). Facing plenty of unrelenting blowback from his community who grew increasingly angered by Moses’ stubbornness.

In the end, it was only a matter of time until Moses would succumb to the pressure of his island neighbors and family and cooperate with the government’s resettlement plan and move on himself. However, that was far from the end of the story as a tragic accident soured those plans. Not going on with resettlement, Moses devised a plan to fake his own death and spend time away. Eventually coming back to a ghost town, he had to fend for himself with limited resources and a diminishing food supply with inclement weather approaching, all while surrounded by the ghosts of those no longer around. A test of his resolve, it also made for an extended period of introspection where Moses had the chance to find some closure and settle some unfinished business. Where the film faltered was its attempt to stick the landing with Moses’ arc as the anchor that tied him to the setting needed to be further developed in order to sell the ending. Keeping his backstory too close to its vest, there was potential there. Granted, the balance between telling Moses’ story and making a larger point about Newfoundland’s resettlement program is a challenge but it is one that the film couldn’t quite find.

Though the story may be lacking, what ultimately pulled Sweetland through was Jones’ strong performance as Moses. Working as the heart of the film, even though the overall point that the film is trying to make could be clearer, it is easy to understand where he is coming from and what he went through to an extent. Adding more layers than what was on the page, Jones was compelling to watch as a man that saw the walls closing in as he was on the verge of losing the only place where he truly belonged. For a film that was essentially Jones, Walsh stole her one and only scene as Queenie.

At the end of the day, Sweetland is a flawed character drama stuck between story and message that is nonetheless carried by an endearing performance from Mark Lewis Jones.

still courtesy of Game Theory Films

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.