Sweetheart! Movie Review : Too many flashbacks, too little direction

Sweetheart Movie Synopsis: A commitment-phobic animator must confront his fears when his girlfriend's unexpected pregnancy forces him to choose between running away or growing up.

Sweetheart Movie Review: Sweetheart staggers through romantic comedy territory like a man who's had one too many at a reception—determined but directionless. The film introduces us to Vasu (Rio Raj), an animator whose childhood baggage has left him with the emotional availability of a brick wall, who faces his personal apocalypse when girlfriend Manu (Gopika Ramesh) announces her pregnancy. What unfolds is an exhausting parade of flashbacks and increasingly desperate schemes to confirm her condition while she's virtual prisoner to her overzealous family.

Director Swineeth S. Kumar seems allergic to narrative economy, transforming what should be straightforward plot points into marathon sequences. The pregnancy confirmation subplot hijacks the entire first half, drowning viewers in flashbacks so relentless you might develop temporal whiplash. The comedy lands with all the grace of a falling piano, particularly through Vasu's sidekick Senthil, whose manic energy and repetitive phone gags become an exercise in endurance rather than entertainment.

The film's pacing problems are compounded by character choices that defy logic. A particularly vexing example is the pint-sized spy in Manu's household—a child whose unnatural obsession with monitoring Manu's every move feels plucked from a different genre altogether. These narrative detours and character missteps repeatedly yank you out of any investment in the central relationship.

Rio Raj effectively channels perpetual anxiety, his face a canvas of stress and indecision that mirrors his character's inner turmoil. Gopika Ramesh brings genuine warmth and depth despite her implausible circumstances. Yuvan Shankar Raja's vibrant score provides the film's genuine high points.

Sweetheart promises more than it delivers, like a beautifully wrapped gift box containing socks. A rom-com that forgot the com and misplaced the rom.

Written By: Abhinav Subramanian