WARNING! Major spoilers for Sweetheart ahead.
Sweetheart is Blumhouse Productions’ newest contribution to Netflix. The film wowed audiences on the festival circuit, and premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2019.
Director J.D. Dillard makes the most of a small cast of fresh-faced actors who must attempt to survive the elements, each other, and a beastly monster that lurks off the shore of a remote, tropical island. Sweetheart was written by J.D. Dillard, Alex Hyner, and Alex Theurer. Jason Blum produced the film with Universal, the film’s distributor. Sweetheart has received critical acclaim, currently holding a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is rated PG-13, proving Blumhouse can succeed with a lesser rating, which has come under fire after the release of Black Christmas.
Even though the cast is small, the setting does well for bolstering the creature feature’s roots and relies more on the incredible acting from its cast and stunning creature effects. Here’s a full list of the talented cast of Sweetheart and information about the characters they play.
Netflix’s Sweetheart Main Cast & Characters
Kiersey Clemons as Jennifer Remming: Jennifer, known as Jenn, is the lead protagonist. After being stranded on a deserted island, Jenn immediately showcases her survival skills and creates a camp relatively quickly. She is the girlfriend of Lucas, but was not close with any of the others on the boat which sank and left the survivors in their dire predicament. She is the sole survivor and manages to kill the creature who is the main threat on the island. Clemons is known for playing Joanne in Rent: Live, Sam in Hearts Beat Loud, Sophia in Flatliners (2017), and has a role in the upcoming movie, Antebellum with Janelle Monáe.
Emory Cohen as Lucas Griffin: Lucas is Jenn’s boyfriend, and continually refers to her as “sweetheart.” He is presumed wealthy and tears Jenn down regarding their differences in class and social standing as he is white and she is a woman of color. He was responsible for throwing the boat party. Lucas is killed by the creature, who pulls him into its underwater hole in an attempt to save Jenn’s life. Cohen previously played Tony in Brooklyn, Billy in The Wolf Hour, and Homer in the TV series, The OA.
Hanna Mangan Lawrence as Mia Reed: Mia is a friend of Lucas’ and was one of the party-goers who managed to survive the storm. It is implied that she was in a relationship with Brad, another party-goer and mutual friend of Lucas’. Mia is uptight and snobby, with an air of superiority that she uses to cut Jenn down after she and Lucas wash up on the island. She doesn’t heed Jenn’s warnings about the creature, and is killed by it while walking along the shoreline at nightfall. Lawrence is known for playing Seppia on Spartacus (2012), Laina in Beyond the Reach (2015), and Teresa on the CW TV series, Containment.
Andrew Crawford as the Creature: The creature who hunts on the island is an aquatic beast that can swim efficiently and also maneuver on land. It presumably lives in a massive black hole on the ocean floor near the island. It is tall, possesses incredible amounts of strength, and is a bipedal being with claws, which are the primary method used to attack its prey. The creature is presumed to be nocturnal, since it hunts on the island at night, but takes to the water during the daytime. Crawford has played other creatures before, including a zombie in the Hulu original Little Monsters and a Neomorph in Alien: Covenant.
Benedict Samuel as Brad: Brad is another of Lucas’ friends, and presumably Mia’s boyfriend. He was on the boat and washed up on the island with Jenn in the beginning of the film. Due to his abdomen being punctured by a large piece of coral, he was already bleeding heavily and ended up succumbing to his wounds and perishing as soon as Jenn brought him to shore. He was buried on the island, but dug up and eaten by the creature soon after their arrival. Samuel has been featured as Owen on The Walking Dead, Felix on Netflix’s series The Secret City, and has appeared on Gotham as Jervis Tetch.
Next: Netflix’s Sweetheart Creature & Ending Explained
