Summary
An open letter to Netflix — please do not cancel this. Sweet Tooth deserves to stay. Let it breathe.
This review of Netflix’s Sweet Tooth season 1 does not contain spoilers — the comic adaptation series will be released on June 4, 2021.
Sweet Tooth offers a viable future; a virus ravages the world, and human beings are losing their heads because of the unknown, causing systems to collapse. Think 2020 but on steroids. But at the heart of this comic adaptation is hope — that amongst the darkness, there is something within us that compels us to live and keep the faith.
And that unwavering hope comes in the form of the character Gus. Admittedly, I’m unaware of Jeff Lemire’s comic, published by DC Comics’ Vertigo, but creator Jim Mickle had a flagrant idea in mind; he wanted to capture the audience’s hearts. Not only does the series achieve that, but it dares us to fall in love with the story.
In a world damaged by a virus called “the Sick,” there are half-human/half-creature people, which humans fear and violently oppress. Gus is a Hybrid, presenting deer antlers and offering a generic cute face of a child to woo the audience. Hidden in the woods, Gus is curious about the outside world, and he hasn’t given up hope that his mother is alive. This spurs on a thrilling but soft adventure story.
With Gus coupling with an unlikely foe, the writers and directors have applied this fantasy adventure the right way. It displays a measure of patience that rightfully allows the characters to show certainty in their own world. Bringing narration by James Brolin, we are given a balanced view of all the characters without dissecting the story arc into convoluted misery and bringing a fruitful voyage for truth and discovery.
And the cast does not falter either. Of course, we have to applaud the main lead Christian Convery for his representation of Gus. He boldly takes on an important character, presenting the quirks, oozing with naivety, and bringing the thrills of youthful self-discovery. It’s difficult not to like Gus. He’s the kid that bowls you over.
The directorial vision is clearly at the forefront of this series. Battling light and dark, season 1 of Sweet Tooth evidently sways more towards the light, but we can imagine that future seasons will get darker, and the war paint will embolden the young. Again, the direction is applaudable, giving the audience a path they can imagine rather than muddling them with an abundance of subplots.
Longevity is always a question when it pertains to universes like this. Ironically, as I write this, Jupiter’s Legacy has been canceled, but Sweet Tooth should not be even considered for Netflix’s recycle bin.
This is Netflix’s dark horse of the year, making the lack of promo for Sweet Tooth more surprising. Journalists have been hyped up about the series, but energy has not been applied to the general public. This is a comic adaptation that deserves to be seen and enjoyed in its entirety.
So with that, an open letter to Netflix — please do not cancel this. Sweet Tooth deserves to stay. Let it breathe.
