The Sweet East

The Sweet East is a 2023 American satirical surrealist road film directed by Sean Price Williams in his directorial debut from a screenplay by Nick Pinkerton.

It stars Talia Ryder, Earl Cave, Simon Rex, Ayo Edebiri, Jeremy O. Harris, Jacob Elordi and Rish Shah.

The film follows a teenager from South Carolina who experiences the wider world on a picaresque adventure through the East Coast of the United States.

High school senior Lillian is on a class trip to Washington, D.C., when a local restaurant is attacked by an armed man who believes the establishment houses a secret pedophilia ring.

As Lillian is fleeing from the hotel, she is stopped on the street by director Molly and producer Matthew, who want to cast her in a film they are making.

Lillian is rescued by crew member Mo, who drives her to Vermont and hides her in a secluded barn on a property his brother Ahmad runs as an Islamic community.

As her family is distracted by TV news reports about a terrorist attack at a football stadium that has left tens of thousands dead, she leaves the house and smiles into the camera.

Sean Price Williams thought no one would give him money to make his directorial debut, until Alex Ross Perry used his agency connections to secure the cast in order to gain financing.

[17] Carlos Losilla of Caimán Cuadernos de Cine wrote, "The Sweet East mixes Lewis Carroll with the Rivette of Céline and Julie vont en bateau, to jump to the other side of the mirror and contemplate, despite everything, what remains of the American dream.