Sweet Angel Baby: Movie Review

Sexuality, morality and small-town politics.

Bundled up in big sweaters and tall boots, Eliza (Michaela Kurimsky) is arguably ready for the harsh Newfoundland winters. She’s also covering herself up to hide and get as far removed as possible from her other persona. In town, she’s a sweet, single, church-going, fundraising, unassuming young woman. But away from town – in the woods, or on a rocky shore, or in a deserted barn – she strips down in front of her camera and anonymously broadcasts to the rest of the world.		2024 Directed by: Melanie Oates Screenplay by: Melanie Oates Starring: Michaela Kurimsky
The film never really gets into the why she does this. Presumably it’s an outlet for her frustrations with her closed off town. She doesn’t have a lot of close friends; she’s known everyone her age since grade school and she didn’t get along with them then so she still doesn’t get along with them now. As she tells her grandmother, she doesn’t have any male suitors since they’re all her cousins. Her secret online life is also a first step to accepting the rest of her life. She’s in a relationship with Toni (Elle-Maíja Tailfeathers), kind of. Toni’s an out lesbian who the town has begrudgingly accepted, but only kind of, she’s an outsider and she’s gay. And they’re homophobic. Toni wants to be in an open relationship with Eliza, one where they’re not hiding in secret and not coming up with lies to explain why Toni is at her house first thing in the morning. While it is a slow-moving film, her secret gets exposed early enough. Eliza got a little careless, due entirely to her growing frustrations with her puritanical crowd, and she wasn’t paying close enough attention to why one former classmate now wants to call her a friend and become more than friends. Sean’s motivations become clear from his initial actions, and his ultimate actions stem directly from his motivations and Eliza’s responses. The heart of the movie is in the various reactions to the big reveal. Who is on her side, who isn’t on her side. There are some interesting reveals in that since as you’ll recall, Eliza doesn’t have any close friends and only person she truly likes. This is precisely where the movie could have and should have gone further – throw back the hypocrisy at the puritanical townspeople, force them to examine themselves not just Eliza. Sweet Angel Baby is an interesting and nicely photographed movie examining the sexuality and morality in a small town. It feels a bit simplified and quickly resolved, but it also makes it an easy watch. It still has something to say in its short run-time and viewers will quickly be entranced with Eliza, a woman who has no problem bearing it all for strangers but is completely closed off to everyone who knows her.