Our Review

               Movie:  SWEETHEART DEAL

                            Rating: NR

                           Length: 1:39

          Release Date: September 13, 2024  

Jeanne: Being a sex worker on the streets is bad enough, but when four women profiled in directors Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller’s documentary, SWEETHEART DEAL, learn they’ve been betrayed by someone close to them, they are devastated. Caught between their addictions and their survival, these brave females band together to save themselves.

 

Along a well-known commercial strip, Aurora Avenue North (Hwy 99), in Seattle, Washington, and filmed over the course of seven years, SWEETHEART DEAL gives an in-depth look into the heartbreaking world of drug-addicted prostitutes. Kristine, Tammy, Sara and Krista, AKA Amy, are Levine’s and Miller’s subjects, and each addicted to opioids.

 

Laughn, AKA Elliott, is a self-professed savior for these women. He resides in a large motor home which he parks along Aurora Avenue, always in plain sight for his “girls”. He’s not a pimp, instead he provides a safe refuge for these workers when they need it most. He feeds them, offers them support and takes them in when they want to get clean.

 

Usually, their efforts to stay away from drugs don’t last, but Elliott is always there to pick up the pieces. It isn’t until years later that a betrayal so egregious surfaces causing this group of women, who are now friends, to rise up together to survive. 

Though SWEETHEART DEAL is definitely not an easy film to watch, the drama of these sex workers and each of their stories draws the viewer in and keeps us rapt. Some of the women had perfectly normal childhoods, others were abused and kicked out of their homes at an early age. Surviving on the streets is a quick lesson in whom you can trust.

 

Levine and Miller, who is also Director of Photography, were not interested in making a “message” film. Rather they wanted to connect “with the viewer in a very organic, intimate and immersive way.” Miller’s cinematography is courageous and natural.

 

It was also important for Levine and Miller to use impactful music, which was composed by Matthew Dougherty. SWEETHEART DEAL features songs by Lemolo, a Seattle-based singer-songwriter Meagan Grandall. The doc’s soundtrack is mesmerizing, adding another layer to the finished production.

 

           Opening in theaters September 13th

 

Opinion: See It Now!

David: You may be tempted to stop watching this documentary even if you are more than halfway into it. But that would be a mistake because of the stunning turnaround of one of the film’s main characters.

 

We learn about the intimate lives, in great depth, of four of Seattle’s sex workers who ply their trade on what is the city’s notorious Aurora Avenue North. They all indulge in opioids to get them through the day. One in particular details how she was raped and beaten by a man who picked her up in his truck.

 

One thing all the women have in common is their friendship with a 63-year-old man named Laughn, although they all call him Elliott. He lives in a mobile home on Aurora and is known as the Mayor of Aurora Avenue. With his full beard and ponytail plus a kind demeanor, Elliott provides them with what they believe is a safe haven when they have nowhere else to go. He feeds them and provides moral support, especially if they feel sick or depressed. However --- not everything is as it seems.

Directed by Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller, who also is the Director of Photography, written by Karen Sim and superbly edited by Brittany Kapan, SWEETHEART DEAL was shot over a seven-year period. What started out as a heartfelt look at the lives of the four women and their relationships with Elliott took a severe turn when circumstances changed dramatically.

 

The film has won numerous awards at smaller film festivals around the country, including the Grand Jury Award at the Chicago Underground Film Festival, the Best Documentary Award at the Brooklyn Film Festival and the Society Award from Seattle film critics.

 

It is imperative that moviegoers see SWEETHEART DEAL through to its explosive ending.

 

       Opening in theaters September 13th

 

Opinion:  See It Now!