A wild road trip involving anarchists, Neo-Nazis, and art school wannabes? Of course, Philly has a role to play

The streets of Philadelphia appear briefly, but memorably, in The Sweet East, director Sean Price Williams’s Cannes-premiering new film. It’s a station along the road for a gaggle of revved-up anarchists who drive from Baltimore to West Philly to recruit some fellow travelers. Then, they motor on to Jersey to clash with a gang of white supremacists.

The film stars Talia Ryder (who played a Pennsylvania teenager traveling to New York to seek an abortion in the 2020 breakout Never Rarely Sometimes Always) as Lillian, a disaffected, cipher-ish South Carolinian teenager separated from her classmates on a school trip to the nation’s capital.

Early in preproduction, Williams dreamed of offering one prominent role, that of a loquacious racist eager to school Lillian in the fineries of his noxious Eurocentric worldview, to Bradley Cooper. “I’m convinced I’m related to him,” Williams speculates. “My great-grandmother was a Cooper from the Philadelphia area. I always had this feeling, ever since I first saw him 20 years ago: ‘this guy could be my cousin.’” (The role ended up going to ex-MTV VJ Simon Rex.)

From D.C., Lillian is swept into a van with a group of punks, and wends her way across the Northeast, traveling from Baltimore to Philadelphia to Trenton, New York, and finally to the rural wilds of the northern tip of the eastern seaboard. Along the Northeast corridor in Williams’ windy, weird, provocative American road trip, she meets trust-fund anarchists, neo-Nazis, art school wannabes, and a cast of other extreme, laughable, and sinister characters.

The Sweet East is a winding journey through various political, artistic, and conspiratorial subcultures — each of whom has their own idea about what America means and needs. As conceived by Williams and writer Nick Pinkerton, the film is a satiric slice of newfangled American pie, representing the complexity, confusion and utter idiocy of our so-called “present moment.”

The film’s narrative arc roughly follows Williams’ own youthful perambulations. “I grew up in northeast Maryland,” he says. “Philadelphia was my closest city. And I ended up in New York.” There, he distinguished himself as a cinematographer.

As his first solo directorial effort, Williams aimed to make the production tolerable, even fun, for his cast and crew. This involved a rowdy sojourn to Philly. “A lot of them had never been to Philly. So why not take everybody down to Philly for a few hours and get a few shots? We ended up trapped at Queen of Sheba [Ethiopian restaurant] on Baltimore Avenue and never made it back to New York until three in the morning.” (Many also availed themselves of cheesesteaks procured from a pre-fire Jim’s on South Street.)

Viewers won’t clock the Liberty Bell, or the Rocky statue. Instead, Williams wanted the film to showcase where people across the Northeast actually live, pushing past the landmarks and historical places of interest that tend to dominate films shot in historically culturally rich places. “The scenes in Philadelphia are really just born out of an affection for the place,” Williams says.

The film’s “road show” quality extends from its production to its plots to its theatrical rollout. Instead of a coast-to-coast wide release, The Sweet East is popping up in cinemas across North America for limited theatrical engagements, including a stint at the PFS Bourse Theater. “We’ve ended up with a release strategy that matches,” Williams laughs. “It’s just an excuse to ride around with everyone. It’s like a circus.”

“The Sweet East” began screening Friday at the PFS Bourse Theater (400 Ranstead Street). Director Sean Price Williams and screenwriter Nick Pinkerton will be in attendance for a Q&A following the 7 p.m. screening on Tuesday.