Posts Tagged ‘Sweetness’

IHEARTRADIO: ACTORS SHAMIER ANDERSON + HERMAN TØMMERAAS

On the Saturday April 4, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet actor Shamier Anderson. He’s best known for roles like Deputy Marshal Xavier Dolls in Wynonna Earp, Trevante Cole in Invasion (Apple TV+), and the memorable Mr. Nobody / The Tracker in John Wick: Chapter 4. He’s also involved in initiatives supporting Black Canadian talent, like co-founding awards and events with his brother, actor Stephan James.

Today we’re talking about how he made the switch from law enforcement to acting, studying kung fu and his latest role, playing controversial Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson. “Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story” is a satirical comedy miniseries for Paramount+ and GameTV that focuses on Johnson’s 1988 Seoul Olympics 100m gold medal win (and world record), the subsequent doping scandal that stripped him of it, and a “definitely-not-biased” retelling that explores the legacy, the pressure, and perhaps the bigger picture of athletics in that era.

Then we meet Herman Tømmeraas, an actor best known for breakout roles like Christoffer Schistad in the Norwegian hit teen series Skam (Shame), he co-starred in Netflix’s Ragnarok, and more recently, played the troubled rock star Payton Adler in the 2025 Canadian thriller Sweetness (directed by Emma Higgins). In Sweetness, he plays a dysfunctional, drug-addicted musician whose life intersects with an obsessive teenage superfan (Kate Hallett) in a dark, twisted story exploring fame, addiction, obsession, and captivity—often compared to a Gen Z take on Misery.

The movie is great, but there’s more. The fictional band in the film, Floorplan, is releasing an album! While the band only exists within the film’s universe, the music behind it is very real. Performed by my guest, actor Herman Tømmeraas, and written and produced by JUNO Award-winning Canadian composers and artists Blitz//Berlin, Floorplan blurs the line between fiction and reality, with the music exploring themes of addiction, emotional reckoning, and hard-earned clarity through the perspective of Herman’s character in the film, Payton Adler.

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

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Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!

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CTV NEWS AT 11:30: MORE MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO STREAM THIS WEEKEND!

I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the weekend’s best shows and movies including the new Crave series “DTF: St. Louis” with Jason Bateman, the return of “SCTV” on Prime Video and the obsessive fan drama “Sweetness” in theatres.

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 15:44)

CTV ATLANTIC: RICHARD AND TODD BATTIS ON NEW MOVIES IN THEATRES!

I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the monstrous and messy “The Bride!,” PIxar’s “Hoppers,” the hockey drama “Youngblood” and the teen drama “Sweetness.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

SWEETNESS: 3 ½ STARS. “A ‘Misery’ for a new generation.”

SYNOPSIS: In “Sweetness,” a new teen thriller now playing in theatres, the thin line between reality and fantasy is blurred when a 16-year-old meets her drug addicted rock star idol.

CAST: Kate Hallett, Herman Tømmeraas, Aya Furukawa, Justin Chatwin, Steven Ogg, Amanda Brugel. Directed by Emma Higgins.

REVIEW: A “Misery” for a new generation, “Sweetness” essays a teen crush as it escalates from fandom-from-afar to an up-close-and-personal obsession.

Like many 16-year-olds, Rylee (Kate Hallett) has posters of her favorite singer Payton Adler (Herman Tømmeraas) plastered over her bedroom walls. The lonely girl, still stinging from the loss of her mother in a drunk driving accident, finds an escape in his lyrics. His music changed her life. Before she found his songs, she says, “I was really messed up.”

The chance to see her idol perform live in concert turns into something else when, after the show, she gets separated from her best friend Sidney (Aya Furukawa) and is almost injured when Adler, driving while high, runs her down.

As he drives her home, she realizes he is battling addiction and makes the snap decision to save him from himself by kidnapping him and holding him hostage at her home.

As Payton detoxes, the situation escalates pushing Rylee to extremes to prove her tough love is genuine. “Helping you will be the greatest thing I ever do,” she says.

Despite the title, there’s very little sweetness in Rylee’s tale of obsession.

Writer/director Emma Higgins keeps the story taut as she details what happens when Rylee’s, (played with urgent Annie Wilkes energy by Kate Hallett), parasocial relationship becomes flesh. Her empathy soon turns evil as the situation spins out of control, leaving her convinced that nobody understands her except the rockstar she has chained up in the basement.

Recent films like “Lurker” and “Hurry Up Tomorrow” have examined the obsessive nature of fandom, but Higgins, while going hard at the premise, offers up some moments of dark humour that help take some of the edge off Rylee’s extreme behavior; actions born from obsession, grief and loneliness.

“Sweetness” may not have an entirely original take on obsessive fandom, but interesting work from the leads and some shocking twists earn it a recommendation.