2021 Fantasia Film Festival: Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It ★ ½

A little unusual, yet interesting, piece from the Fantasia Film Festival is Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It, which is a production from Kazakhstan. The story begins with Dastan (Daniar Alshinov), who bickers with his wife and as a result goes on a one-day trip with two of his friends to escape the everyday stress for a while. Things go awry, and the trio find themselves in the middle of a bloody plot.

It might not be very prominent from the premise, yet Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It sets off as a typical buddy comedy and continues as such. It is a well established formula, and does not necessarily disappoint, especially for those who would generally be inclined to watch films of this genre.

Alshinov, who portrays the protagonist, does a satisfactory job in leading the film, one that is not necessarily great but also nothing stands out as deleterious. The same applies to most other supporting roles, though where the film shines is not acting, but rather in creating archetypal characters. Simple and straightforward characters are rarely good in films, as they tend to drag the quality of films, but in the case of Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It, it works in the opposite direction, in which the simplification of the personalities compliments the comedic aspects of the film. Most puns feed off of this simplicity, and it is a formula that works well from the beginning until the end. Still though, some jokes fall flat for one distinct reason: they have been overused in way too many low budget comedies.

Regarding the technical qualities, how the camera frames the story can be bothersome, and does not feel either professional or experimental.. It can be lackluster. The transitions between certain scenes also seem to have suffered at some point, as they are stuck between the limbo of cliché and amateur-ish. Furthermore, the soundtrack of the film feels just confusing, as the playlist is so diverse, but not in any logical manner. Granted, the soundtrack of a film does not have to stick to a single genre; on the contrary, that could even be too monotonous, but the lack of consistency of the soundtrack of Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It is a little mind-boggling.

All in all, Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It is a film worth watching if you’re looking for fun, and not much else. It might not have a high production value, or be very confident in what it attempts, but still, it promises some fun moments.