Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for Netflix's Jason Momoa movie Sweet Girl. Proceed with caution.
Netflix's Sweet Girl has audiences buzzing and is towards the top of the streaming service's popularity list. After watching the Jason Momoa and Isabela Merced movie over the weekend, I can totally understand the hype. A big thrill of this movie comes because of one huge moment, which makes the viewer rethink everything they saw beforehand.
Heads up for anyone reading who hasn't seen Sweet Girl, this article delves deep into key plot details. This moment is a huge spoiler in the movie, so you'd be wise to check out the movie first. For those who have seen the movie, let's talk about that big twist and why it outshines some of the weaker Sweet Girl moments.
What Happens In Sweet Girl's Climax
Sweet Girl started off as a story about Ray Cooper and his daughter Rachel, with Ray working to unravel a conspiracy that led to a generic cancer drug being pulled from the market. He learned of the conspiracy thanks to a journalist, but during the encounter, Ray is nearly killed by a hitman hired by an unknown party, presumably to silence the story. Two years later, Ray set out to exact vengeance on the head of the company Biopharma, as his actions led to his wife's death, as well as the attempt on his life.
As audiences learn though, the conspiracy goes much higher than Biopharma. We also learn that Ray Cooper actually did die after the attempt on his life by the hitman, and that it's actually Rachel who's been on a rampage searching for vengeance against all the major players involved in the Biopharma conspiracy. Everything that Ray did in the movie was actually done by Rachel, and it seemed as though the character that was actually Rachel was her own subconscious debating with herself.
The twist is a bit convoluted, but effective all the same. Plus, it accomplishes a lot of things that action movies like Sweet Girl aren't able to pull off as effectively. Perhaps most importantly, it does it in a way that doesn't anger the audience, which certainly felt like a possibility given how big the twist is.
The Twist Gives Fans Something To Think About Without A Bait And Switch
I went into Sweet Girl and expected to see Jason Momoa kick some ass and take some names. Make no mistake, had Momoa died less than 30 minutes into the movie and we saw Rachel take control of the movie from there on out, I would've felt misled by the marketing for this movie. Fortunately, Sweet Girl found a way to pack in an intriguing twist, but also appease the audience who showed up to see Momoa do what he does best.
2/3rds of Sweet Girl has Jason Momoa front and center in the action sequences. It's only after the big reveal that Ray has actually been Rachel the whole time that the charade is dropped the transformation happens. Full credit goes to Isabela Merced as well for her role in the action scenes when the time comes, because she keeps the action just as brutal as Momoa did.
Sweet Girl ultimately delivered a movie that gave plenty of the star it promised, but also a twist and a platform for Isabela Merced to show her skills as an action star in a way that Dora and the Lost City of Gold may not have allowed. As an unrelated aside, Merced was also amazing in the Dora The Explorer movie, and those who liked her in Sweet Girl should also watch that.
Sweet Girl's Twist Is Masked By More Obvious Action Movie Tropes
I'll admit that while I figured out the twist of Sweet Girl in the minutes leading up to the rooftop scene, I hadn't thought about it at all prior to that. I think, whether it was the intention of the filmmakers or not, I was more hung up on some of the more obvious tropes at the beginning of the film that completely threw me off to any obvious signs that Ray Cooper died in the stabbing incident.
Take, for example, the fact that Amy Brenneman's Diana Morgan was so openly featured early in the film as a force against BioPharma. Just like in Mission: Impossible and so many other action movies, the person who is transparently working for good is actually the bad guy controlling the whole thing. I was so focused on waiting for the shoe to drop on Diana Morgan, I feel like that certainly impacted my ability to see the big twist.
Additionally, I would say that the fact that Jason Momoa is the obvious action hero in Sweet Girl also masks the idea that he'd die of his wounds in the first act rather ludicrous. Ok sure, Momoa has Khal Drogo's early exit in Game of Thrones working against him, but most other times, he's the dude kicking ass and taking names rather than getting his ass kicked. Younger daughter characters are not typically the star of the action film, so again, the subversion of action movie stereotypes made this movie a real treat for me.
I won't sit here and say Sweet Girl was the best movie I saw in 2021, but I'll absolutely say it was a movie worth my time and one that other action movies can learn from. Jason Momoa, Isabela Merced and the rest of the crew of Sweet Girl deserve all the praise they've gotten. Plus, there's the possibility of a sequel to Sweet Girl, though I only say that because Rachel got away from her crimes without any punishment. I'm not sure she'd have a need for vengeance after Diana Morgan's arrest, but I bet there's no shortage of corrupt corporations in need of punishment.
Sweet Girl is available to stream on Netflix right now. 2021 has been a solid year for movies, and there's still a good few notable ones on the way. Make sure to stay in the know on what's coming month to month with our 2021 movie release guide so you can figure out what to watch next!
