The sweet death

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Movie
German title The sweet death
Original title Jawbreaker
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1999
length approx. 86 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Darren Stein
script Darren Stein
production Stacy Kramer
Lisa Tornell
music Stephen Endelman
camera Amy Vincent
cut Troy Takaki
occupation

The Sugar-Sweet Death is an American satire from 1999. Some critics considered the film, which parodied all teenage comedies of its time, to be a “social drama”.

action

Courtney, Julie, Marcie and Elizabeth are best friends. They go to Reagan High School together and are the most popular and sought after girls there.

Her friends have planned a special surprise for Elizabeth's birthday. They kidnap Elizabeth and put her in the trunk of Courtney's car to take her out to breakfast. When they arrive at the restaurant, however, Elizabeth is dead. She suffocated from a jawbreaker that Courtney put in her mouth as a gag during the kidnapping .

Since the three fear it will affect their social status, they decide, on Courtney's suggestion, to keep Liz's death a secret for the time being and, as Liz's mother, to call her sick at school. The principal asks Courtney to bring her chores home. Courtney is late and learns from the teacher that Fern Mayo has agreed to deliver the homework and is already on his way to see Liz.

Courtney and her friends now quickly make their way to Liz's house to bring her body from her trunk into Liz's bed. When Fern arrives at the house, she hears a noise from inside and overhears a conversation in which it becomes clear that Courtney is responsible for Liz's death. When Courtney, Marcie and Julie want to leave Liz's room, Fern suddenly appears in front of them. She sees the body and tries to escape, but is stopped by Marcie.

Courtney wants to keep the truth from coming out at all costs and offers Fern a deal. She should be silent about the events. In return, she is styled Liz 'replacement in the clique and by Courtney so that she is barely recognizable. Julie is appalled by Courtney's behavior and slips out of the clique.

When Fern comes to school the next day, she is introduced to everyone as Vylette, who is new to the school. At the same time, Liz's parents come home from vacation and discover their daughter's body. After initial investigations everything seems to point to a rape with subsequent killing. Detective Vera Cruz takes on the case to find out how it came about in the first place.

She questions Courtney, Julie, Marcie, and Vylette about what happened. Courtney makes hints that Liz led a secret double life and frequented strangers. A short time later, a suspect (Marilyn Manson) can be arrested. When Julie finds out about this, she immediately realizes that Courtney must have been in the house with the stranger to cast suspicion on him there. Vylette, meanwhile, has become increasingly headstrong with the popularity she has gained, treating Courtney and Marcie without any respect. Courtney refuses to accept this behavior, but Vylette suggests that she could tell anyone who really murdered Liz.

Marcie and Courtney then successfully uncover Vylette's true identity. Vylette, now known again under the name Fern and pushed back into her old life as an outsider, is mocked by all the students and finally suffers a nervous breakdown and fainting. Julie takes care of her.

A short time later, the school's prom is on and Courtney has a good chance of becoming a prom queen. Julie, who doesn't want to go to prom, gets some of Liz's legacy from her mother. There you will also find an old birthday card on which you can speak individual sentences. When she opens the card, the voice of Courtney can be clearly heard, confessing the murder of Liz - Julie absentmindedly played with the card during the staging of the rape and recorded exactly this sentence. Julie makes her way to the ball with Fern and Zack, her boyfriend, whom she has confided in the meantime. Zack connects the card to the loudspeakers in the hall. Just as Courtney has been named prom queen and is about to give her acceptance speech, Zack plays the confession. The students clearly recognize Courtney's voice and begin to throw anything tangible at her and insult her. Courtney has now been unmasked as Liz's true killer and the story cleared up.

Awards

  • 1999 - Nomination for the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for Rose McGowan

Reviews

The reviews of the film range from “a biting parody of all high school comedies and horror films of the last 20 years” (Dirk Jasper Filmlexikon) to “a pitch-black comedy about the clique hierarchy at American high schools” to “of 'snot naughty 'or even' pitch black 'there is no trace ” .

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