Sweet Tooth & the Dark Dreams of Jim Mickle

            Netflix’s sleeper hit Sweet Tooth, is a post-apocalyptic fable about a young orphaned hybrid boy with antlers and his perilous journey with the “Big Man” across a country decimated by a mystery virus which resulted in “The Great Crumble.” Based on a DC/Vertigo monthly comic book by Canadian cartoonist Jeff Lemire, if ever a storyline was prescient during a time with Americans still reeling from the effects of Covid this is it. But it’s also perfectly suited to the show’s creator, director Jim Mickle, who has mined this material in many of his brilliant, early films. 

            Sweet Tooth takes place after a mystery virus has swept through the country, killing millions. But at the same time another unexplained phenomenon occurs- the birth of hybrid children/animals. These bizarre miracle children are looked at with fear and distrust by most Americans, who see these hybrids linked to the virus that swept through the land. 

            But as the wonderful voiceover narrator (James Brolin) reminds us, this is the story of a remarkable boy named Gus (Christian Convery), born with antlers and deer ears who was raised by “father” or “Pubba” (Will Forte), deep in the remote woods and warned to never travel past the fortress-like gates he has built to keep them safe for 10 years. But when father dies, Gus finds a buried box with a photo of what might be his mother with the word “Colorado” written on it and he decides to journey out into the world to find her. Mercifully he meets Tommy, a hulking, ex-star-football player, who Gus nicknames “Big Man” (played by Nonso Anozie who I loved in the series Zoo). Tommy reluctantly accompanies Gus on his incredible journey. There are all these other subplots and characters fated to intersect, including a fascinating tough-cookie female leader of the “Animal Army” nicknamed “Bear” (Stefania LaVie Owen), who saves hybrids from death at the hands of soldiers. There’s also a villain right out of Stephen King novel- General Abbot (Neil Sandilands), the brutal, bearded leader of “Last Men” who hunt hybrids. The series is pretty damn wonderful and the kid who plays Gus- Christian Convery, is just astonishing- he’s so genuinely appealing and sweetly naïve that you love and and fear for him as he makes this dark journey.

             But it’s the man at the helm of this ship- director Jim Mickle– that I have unlimited admiration for. I have sat in screening rooms for years watching his films and have always left reeling with excitement. What’s so wild about his connection to Sweet Tooth is that the plot is certainly in his wheelhouse.

            His first film Mulberry St.(2006) was also about a viral apocalypse. It took place during a heat wave in Manhattan when a rash of rat bites transform New Yorkers into mutating zombies. Director Jim Mickle does a lot right with a low budget. The leads are anachronistic and interesting- an aging Latino ex-boxer (Nick Damici), a black gay friend (Ron Brice) that lives upstairs, a soldier daughter back from Iraq (Kim Blair) with the facial scars to prove it…but the herky-jerky camera work sometimes robs scenes of scares which is a problem with a movie that depends on it. Still, it’s impressive how the director works in all these political subtexts like Hurricane Katrina, neighborhood gentrification, etc. into this apocalyptic ratastrophy. The wonderful actor Nick Dimici has been Mickle’s partner-in-crime from the get-go. He has co-authored many scripts for Mickle’s projects and often starred in his films. 

            Mickle’s next film- Stake Land (2010) was once again set in a country decimated by disaster. Mickle directs this first-rate bittersweet bloodsucker epic about Mister (Nick Damici), a vampire hunter who takes an orphan (Connor Paolo) under his wing on his search for a safe haven in a post-apocalyptic America. Along the way they pick up a wounded nun (a terrific Kelly McGillis), a pregnant girl (Danielle Harris) and a war veteran (Sean Nelson), while fighting aggressive, fanged creatures as well as a crazed religious zealot (a superbly sinister Michael Cerveris). So many have mined this genre, but Mickle creates an indelibly gritty, suspenseful universe filled with characters you care about.

            Mickle mined the “family” bond that ripples through Sweet Tooth, which can be wildly unorthodox, like in We Are What We Are (2013), the director’s savage adaptation of a Mexican film by Jorge Michel Grau about a family of modern-day cannibals. This is set in the wilds of upstate New York, where a father (a sensational, frightening Bill Sage) and his daughters Iris (Ambyr Chiders) and Rose (Julia Garner) carry out their devoutly religious beliefs involving human flesh as a sacrament. Michael Parks plays a country doctor haunted by his daughter’s disappearance who grows suspicious after discovering a human bone that has washed downstream after a heavy rain. Kelly McGillis shines as the strange family’s kindly neighbor. Ryan Samul creates a menacing mood of impending dread with his luscious, moody cinematography- and the shocking ending is to die for.

            But what makes Sweet Tooth so engaging is the dark humor, much like Mickle showcases in his film Cold in July (2014), a sensational slice of American gothic-noir, based on a novel by Joe R. Lansdale, Michael C. Hall plays Richard Dane, a decent husband and father who shoots and kills a burglar ion his home one night. The local police in the small Texas town give Dane a pass, but the intruder’s vengeful, recently paroled father (Sam Shepard) is suspicious of the night’s events and is determined to know the truth about what happened to his boy. Director Jim Mickle directed this twisted tale of crime, porn, corruption and revenge with artful simplicity and blazing intensity, and Don Johnson gives a phenomenally good performance as a flashy detective.

            His 3-season series- Hap and Leonard (which first premiered on Sundance TV in 2016 and now available on Netflix)- is also based on Joe R. Lansdale’s books. It has a wonderful cast- James Purefoy as Hap Collins, an ex-con and day laborer whose best friend is Leonard Pine (Michael Kenneth Willams) a gay black ex-vet, and they get involved in crackpot schemes to retrieve stolen money in car submerged in the river. I have just started watching this series and it’s got a funky, offbeat charm to it and populated with other wonderful actors I’m a huge fan of- like Christina Hendricks, Bill Sage and Pollyanna McIntosh. 

            I remember when I started reviewing films for Paper magazine over 30 years ago. It was always a kick to be smart-ass and sardonic in print about movies I despised (usually popular films that were a hit with the public). But as time went on I realized that the truth of the matter was I really loved movies. And it was more important to champion films and directors that excited and inspired me rather than only just rant on about what I hated. The thrill for me, sitting in endless screening rooms, was catching an early glimpse of director that really spoke to me. Someone who made films that challenged, dazzled or threw me for a loop. Right from the start I was a huge fan of Jim Mickle– each film I saw of his just flipped me out. I remember standing outside after a screening, having an impassioned conversation with a female critic I revered about how great we thought Mickle was. It was exciting to share the passion I felt about his movies. I couldn’t be happier for the success of Sweet Tooth, but you need to seek out Jim Mickle’s early films- each are beautifully constructed, fiercely original, cinematic dark dreams.