It’s those very wicked sensibilities that vibrantly course through the neon-drenched and voyeuristic Sweetness. Centering on a chance encounter between 16-year-old Rylee (Kate Hallett) and her favourite emo rockstar Payton Adler (Herman Tømmeraas), Sweetness dives into the deep end of immoral rationalization, when Rylee takes it upon herself to help him overcome his drug addiction, even if it means abducting him and engaging in a little (or a lot of) bloodshed.

It’s a dark, depraved tale that Director Emma Higgins and star Kate Hallett don’t shy away from. In fact, for the duo, it’s all part of its perverse appeal. “I adhere to the David Fincher school of filmmaking, which is ‘everyone’s a pervert,’” says Higgins, “It’s human nature to want it and we’re making films for the weirdos who enjoy that kind of stuff.”

While Sweetness feels familiar within an enormous sea of psychological thrillers, especially amid a recent wave of fandom-driven experiences like last year’s Lurker, it attempts to rise above convenient labels like “Misery for Gen Z’ers.” Higgins Tells RANGE, “It’s so odd because I wrote this over a decade ago, and now were having this bubble of kidnapping movies, fandom movies, and music-based movies that are entering, all at once, into this sphere… and I don’t know what societally is going on but for me I always just wanted to take on the fandom story from the point of the fan.”

She continues, “I wanted to put a little more of a feminist spin on it and also modern-day look at it in a way that’s through, kind of, the Emo scene versus the Elvis or Beatles fandom… we needed one for our generation and how that’s different from previous ones.” The same spirit brought the film’s rising heroine to the project, “In a similar vein, I was really excited to take on the role that’s had versions of It played out before, Hallett continues, “Rylee’s so complex, there’s so much to work and play with… I knew it would be a lot of work but I was really excited from the get go.”

For how unsettling and nerve-wracking Sweetness becomes, its pure cathartic tension stems from its cold, observant pans, overhead tracking shots, and detailed oners—which it lovingly cribs from Brian De Palma’s visual toolkit. “Definitely Brian De Palma and some of those older references bleed in,” Higgins adds, “Sometimes I really find that tension in all those older movies is about winding up right? You need to allow things to really breathe so that they can snap back.”

Higgins continues, “Those masters, like De Palma and Kubrick, certainly are very understanding of what they’re doing, and I don’t compare myself to them with this film, but I did hold myself to the boldness that those predecessors left for me.” She notes, “They’re creating something so strikingly unique and unafraid in its language.”

“If anything, I just wanted this film to be a swing that was dedicated to a look and aesthetic that didn’t feel like it was shying away.” Higgins continues, “I think that’s sometimes scary, especially when you don’t have a lot of time to make a film, you really commit fully, and there’s no safety net… we were either going to a very strong-looking movie or something that didn’t work at all.”

It’s the kind of precarious, high-wire act that actress Kate Hallett traversed when thoughtfully capturing Rylee’s slow descent from innocent fan to violent abductor. “I think from the very beginning, Emma always felt very strongly about Rylee being an empathetic character,” Hallett continues, “so it was important to keep in mind that Rylee believed that the grave things she did were for the greater good.”

Though for how disturbing Sweetness becomes, it’s an experience that is deeply musical to its core. Especially in how it blends various rock influences to conjure Rylee’s tattoo-ridden, mascara-sporting celeb crush, Payton Adler—who immediately draws comparisons to English rocker Yungblud. “I wrote this move so long ago that Yungblood wasn’t making music back then, so it’s a combination of the artists that I grew up with,” Higgins continues, “so Yungblud is aesthetically the look, but it’s totally an amalgamation…there’s definitely Harry Styles and Troye Sivan in there, as far are modern ones go… but it’s a lot of Herman, the actor, as well.”

In threading an intricate patchwork of lush music and dark, pulpy sensibilities, Higgins and Hallett’s film manifests as a different kind of Stan movie. An experience that fosters a unique and enthralling identity in a sub-genre that threatens to grow stale. Much like its title, it’s a film that finds sweetness in the most bitter and acerbic of circumstances.

Sweetness releases Friday, March 6th.