If you're in the mood (and then some) for a wander off the beaten path, then look no further than The Sweet East. In this road movie, you never know what's going to happen next.

An absolute winner of a performance sees Talia Ryder star as Lillian, a high school student from South Carolina who goes missing on a class tour to Washington DC. With no money, no phone, and no change of clothes, Lillian bounces from one (mis)adventure to another as she lives the Alice in Wonderland quote: "It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."

You'll wonder what you've just watched

Those who are devoted to David Lynch and who love Richard Linklater's Slacker will find this surreal state-to-state odyssey a trip worth taking - maybe more than once. There are laughs, scares, and WTF moments while Lillian is "just kind of doing my own thing", but first-time director Sean Price Williams and writer Nick Pinkerton also have important things to say about the US once their hero heads down the rabbit role.

In this road movie, you never know what's going to happen next

Strangely, for such a scattergun movie, The Sweet East is pacy and moves far better than many a mainstream offering! You'll wonder what you've just watched - while also acknowledging that it's a joy to see the spirit of 80s and 90s American indie cinema floating around the highways and byways in 2024. A bonkers film, but also one of the year's coolest.

The Sweet East is showing at the Light House Cinema in Dublin and Pálás Cinema Galway.

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