The Sweet East, the directorial debut of cinematographer Sean Price Williams (e.g., the Safdie brothers’ Good Time), is a genre-defying indictment of the idealistic image the United States has of itself. High school student Lillian (rising star Talia Ryder) abandons a school trip under dramatic circumstances – and apparently leaves her old identity behind. From that moment on, she becomes whoever it is people see in her on her aimless wanderings. An ironic commentary of contemporary life in the United States, the film is also a dig at the country’s indie film scene – all with the help of postmodern references to, among other things, Edgar Allan Poe.