Take a trip through the United States of Anarchy in director Sean Price Williams’ latest work, The Sweet East. Part-commentary on wildly distinct American subcultures and part-gonzo coming-of-age adventure film that plays like a punk take on Alice in Wonderland, this undefinable yet confident film is an undeniable future cult favorite.

Talia Ryder stars as Lillian, a free-spirited high school student who doesn’t have time for the immature antics her classmates engage in. While on a school field trip to Washington, D.C., Lillian breaks off from the group to escape the noise and heads to a local pizza shop, only to find herself in the crosshairs of a conspiracy theorist’s (Andy Milonakis) violent ramblings that Pizzagate is real. Without thinking, Lillian follows a boy in a studded vest who takes her through the basement’s secret passageway and out of danger. Acting as her white knight with ear gauges, he leads Lillian to his apartment and introduces her to his many roommates who all consider themselves “artivists” (both artists and activists).

Once she has enough of the communal living, Lillian wanders, phone-less and wallet-less, into a nearby forest. This is where she meets Lawrence (Simon Rex), an Alt-right Nazi sympathizer. He feels for her rough situation (being homeless in another state) and offers to take her in, no strings attached. She ends up staying at his house for weeks on end, seemingly indifferent to sleeping under his swastika comforter. She does whatever she has to do to get ahead, which includes lying, cheating, and stealing thousands of dollars from his mysterious duffle bag of cash. Now on the run from a Nazi wanna-be, she is abruptly stopped by two filmmakers, Molly (Ayo Edebiri) and Matthew (Jeremy O. Harris), who convince her to take the leading role in their film. Lillian agrees, and co-stars alongside the it-boy of the moment (Jacob Elordi), seemingly leaving the past behind her. But history never forgets, and Lillian learns the hard way that to make it in America, you may have to get a little dirty.

In a similar universe as Heaven Knows What, The Pleasure of Being Robbed, and God’s Time, The Sweet East is a solid entry into the cinematic grime cannon.

Lillian, in many ways, lives out the American Dream. She started from nothing, met the right people along the way, survived by putting herself first, and eventually fell upwards. Talia embodies the role of this complex character with compassion and spice, and her performance is entirely impressive. Of course, her co-stars are equally as memorable. Newly crowned Golden Globe-winner Ayo Edebiri (The Bear, Bottoms) and Red Rocket‘s Simon Rex give the film an additional sense of clout and practically steal every scene they’re in.

As one can safely assume at this point, The Sweet East is a frenetic joyride through the Eastern seaboard. Furthering the film’s energetic disposition is the handheld cinematography by the director himself as well as the score by composer Paul Grimstad. Another nuanced but appreciated detail is the title treatment written in old English font, much like the Constitution. The difference, however, is that written inside The Sweet East‘s scroll is a Declaration of Chaos.

In a similar universe as Heaven Knows What, The Pleasure of Being Robbed, and God’s Time, The Sweet East is a solid entry into the cinematic grime cannon.