Sweet Thing

Despite its bleak storyline, director Alexandre Rockwell's heartfelt drama about siblings coping with poverty and parental neglect bursts with the wonder of childhood. Billie (Lana Rockwell in a star-making performance) and her younger brother Nico (Nico Rockwell) are desperately trying to hold down the fort as their alcoholic father (Will Patton) goes off the rails. Meanwhile, things with their mother (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Karyn Parsons) aren't much better after she shacks up with a new boyfriend (ML Josepher). Rockwell keeps it in the family by casting his wife and two children in the central roles, and the film is all the better for it. Lana and Nico, who also appeared in their father's 2013 drama Little Feet, enjoy an easy chemistry. Shot in black-and-white with only an occasional pop of colour, the film has a dreamy quality that heightens as the plot spins off into an exhilarating adventure. Even though it paints a bruising picture of dysfunctional family life, Sweet Thing charms with its touching message about childhood resilience.