''Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl'' is a 2016 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

written and directed by

A.D. Calvo Alejandro Daniel Calvo (born October 9, 1967 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-born producer, writer, and director. Biography Calvo was born in Buenos Aires and moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when he was four. In 1974, his family relocated to ...

and starring

Erin Wilhelmi Erin Wilhelmi is an American actress. She is known for her role as Alice in ''The Perks of Being a Wallflower (film), The Perks of Being a Wallflower'', and as Mayella in Aaron Sorkin's stage adaptation of ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. Filmography ...

Quinn Shephard Quinn Shephard (born February 28, 1995) is an American actress, writer, producer, director, and film editor. She played the roles of Donna Malone in the Christmas comedy ''Unaccompanied Minors'' and Morgan Sanders in the television series ''Hosta ...

, and Susan Kellermann. The film had its world premiere on September 22, 2016, at

Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer ...

. Filming for ''Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl'' took place in

Vernon, Connecticut Vernon ( ) is the most populous New England town, town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 30,215 at the 2020 United States census ...

during late 2015.

Plot

Adele is a lonely young teenage girl who has been sent to care for her aunt Dora, who is

agoraphobic Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no way to escape. These situations can include public transit, shopping centers, crowds and q ...

and refuses to have any contact with Adele other than a series of messages and rules slid under her door. She seems to have an escape from this bleak existence after meeting Beth, a vibrant woman her own age and Adele's opposite in looks and personality. As they spend more time together Adele begins to adopt some of Beth's behaviors and mannerisms, which include her deliberately purchasing inexpensive versions of the items Dora asks her to buy so she can pocket the money. Adele initially only replaces food items, but Beth eventually persuades her to purchase an over-the-counter heart medicine for her aunt rather than her prescription heart medication. This inevitably results in Dora's death, which Adele only learns about when the food tray remains untouched. Upon discovering the body, Adele takes a ring with a greenish stone off of her aunt's body and calls the ambulance crew to take away the remains. Adele then takes the ring to Beth and leaves it outside of her apartment door, as she believes them to be in a relationship after the two share moments of passion on a beach. She's hurt to discover that this wasn't the case and storms off, leaving Beth to discover the ring on her own. After this Adele pawns her aunt's jewelry and purchases a blouse she had been eyeing for a while. Wearing the blouse Adele goes to a bar and picks up a guy, who is unable to see Beth watching the two of them at the bar. Later Adele is frightened by Beth, who appears behind her and begins acting strangely. Upon hearing a noise upstairs, Adele goes to investigate and experiences inexplicable phenomena, seeing the decrepit figure of her dead aunt. Unable to leave the house, Adele tries to hide in the basement but is discovered by Beth, who now possesses a monstrous figure. The film then shows that Adele's little sister has come to the house to care for her. Adele now resembles an old woman, implying that Beth has stolen her youth - and is much older than she appears - and that the cycle will repeat itself with her little sister.

Cast

as Adele *

as Beth * Susan Kellermann as Dora *Frances Eve as Dory * Mike S. Ryan as Pawnbroker *Lainie Ventura as Adele's mom *Kristin Johansen as Old Adele *Adam Schartoff as Pharmacist *Hada Vanessa as Store Owner *Jonathan Holtzman as Guy *David Pirrie as Dave Jessup *Matt Goyette as Gary *A.J. Helm as Grocery Clerk

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

, reports that 83% of surveyed critics gave the film a positive review. IndieWire's Eric Kohn characterized the film as "Bergmanesque" and publicly praised it as being an, "artfully subdued gothic lesbian psychological horror tale with great atmosphere."

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...

and Modern Horrors both reviewed ''Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl'', the former writing that the movie "not without flaws – the rather sudden ending, for one – and it does nothing to update the genre, or comment on its influences" but that "Those who appreciate that side of the genre will find something rare and delightful. It is a stylistic achievement, and in the end, a melancholy exploration of just what the title promises – loneliness." ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'' also reviewed the movie, commenting that they found the film's "little moments" "chillingly captivating".

References

External links

* * {{A.D. Calvo 2016 films 2016 horror thriller films 2016 LGBTQ-related films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films American haunted house films American horror thriller films American LGBTQ-related films English-language horror thriller films Films about female bisexuality Films directed by A. D. Calvo Films set in the 1980s Films shot in Connecticut LGBTQ-related horror thriller films