Sweet Relief

Art Brut Statement

What would happen if a young Richard Linklater made a slasher film?  You might get something like Sweet Relief.  Shot for no money over the course of six days, the plot mapped out sounds like a fairly conventional horror set-up:  three teenage girls participate in an online murder challenge masterminded by a mysterious and creepy looking fiend called Sweet Angel who wears a rabbit mask.  It’s a strong hook.

But the slasher film is really happening in the background.  The film is really about the relationships we have with the Internet, culture and each other, how they interweave with each other, tying strangers closer together while pulling family, friends and loved ones further apart. The film is also particular to its location in western Massachusetts, so in some sense it’s a regional film as well.

Mr. Verdi consistently makes daring choices throughout the film, leaving the viewer wondering where the characters and plot are going.  When I first saw Mr. Verdi’s movie, I immediately thought to describe it as a “slacker slasher” – but that label is misleading.  It has elements of mumblegore like Mark Duplass’ Creep, but it also has traces of David Lynch and Todd Solondz.  The film's strong score by Renato Montenegro is noteworthy and used to interesting effect throughout - often in seeming contrapposto to the events onscreen. There is an improvisational style to the direction of his actors, reminiscent of one of Mr. Verdi’s cinematic heroes, John Cassavettes, which gives the characters a certain depth. Paul Lazar gives a stand-out performance. The movie embodies a bluntly hostile cross generational dialogue both through its narrative and the actors’ performances. The movie is both raw and calculated.  It has long, lingering shots – some of which are motivated no doubt by budgetary constraints – but his use is intentional, confident and helps to build tension within the frame and the narrative.  The film challenges viewers. These are not attributes of a typical low budget horror film. 

Sweet Relief is not content to be a conventional genre film.  However, it is also not “elevated horror” with all of the pretensions that phrase conjures up even though the film would be at home in an arthouse theatre. It’s something else – it’s interesting, different, challenging, and worthwhile.  It’s cinema created by a promising young artist and his group of collaborators outside of the studio system, and outside even the traditional independent film system.  Art Brut is proud to give audiences the opportunity to experience Sweet Relief and looks forward to seeing what Mr. Verdi and his merry band of outsiders have in store for us in the future.