Sweetwater

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Logan Miller directs. Brad Shield behind the camera. Martin Davich scores. Robert Dalva cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 13 years ago.
• 2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
• 3Directed by Logan Miller, shot by Brad Shield. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Martin Davich. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Robert Dalva shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6January Jones and Jason Isaacs and Ed Harris carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Revenge is Sweet.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt2224004 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 8 themes, including "husband wife relationship", "new mexico", "religious fundamentalism", "lawman ".

The technical file

Cinematography

Brad Shield

Original score

Martin Davich

Editing

Robert Dalva

Production design

Waldemar Kalinowski

Costume design

Hala Bahmet

Makeup / hair

Tarra D. Day

Sound

Gary Gegan

Stunt coordinator

Al Goto

Runtime

96 min · 1h 36m

Status

Released

Budget

$7,000,000

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Sweetwater (2013) ↗

Also by

Logan Miller

• 
  Touching Home

  2008 · ★ 6.5

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• wrjte512016-08-28
  ★ 6/10

  Kind of an odd western. Especially the performance by Ed Harris, who always seems to put his "all" into what he doing regardless if it is a little quirky or not. January Jones makes for a great looking avenging angel even if her acting style is a little bland. For fans of westerns it is worth a watch.

  Read full review ↓
• Wuchak2025-04-06
  ★ 7/10

  Dealing with a false minister in Bleakwater, New Mexico A homesteading couple have the misfortune of living near a questionable religious leader (Jason Isaacs) and his compound. The wife (January Jones) soon finds herself facing a great challenge while an unusual-but-righteous lawman (Ed Harris) takes over the Sheriff duties of the nearby town. "Sweetwater” (2013) is reminiscent of three 70’s Westerns: It features the desperate loneliness and vast landscapes of “Bad Company,” the ugly side of the Old West of “The Great Minnesota Northfield Raid,” and the quirky tone of “The Missouri Breaks,” not to mention the eccentric-but-bold protagonist of the latter film. A couple of more modern Westerns also come mind: “South of Heaven, West of Hell” and “The Proposition.” This is better than a couple of those, but not as good as the top ones. Still, if you like any of ’em, you’ll probably appreciate “Sweetwater.” It features a love-to-hate villain in the manner of “Rob Roy” and “Inglourious Basterds.” A viewer criticized the protagonist, Sarah, for being a prostitute, yet this isn’t true. She had totally turned from her former lifestyle, which she was misled into by her mother. She's actually a loving wife of her humble husband (Eduardo Noriega). This same critic lamented the depiction of "evil Christians," but they obviously aren't actual disciples of Christ. To explain, the Lord plainly instructed us to "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them... A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them... Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (from Matthew 7:15-23). So, the ‘Prophet’ in the movie isn't a real believer, but rather a false prophet. This can be observed near the end when he shoots a sheep for no reason, which symbolizes that he doesn't care about the "sheep" of the Church and actively destroys them. It's also relevant that the film implies he was a Mormon, as opposed to a strictly biblical believer, since he hailed from Utah and left several wives behind there. Unfortunately, the flick doesn't provide a counterbalance to Josiah, such as the way "The Mist" used Amanda (Laurie Holden) to offset the Pharisaical Mrs. Carmody (Gay Harden). It runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe as well as Abiquiu, which is a 65 miles drive north of the ranch in north-central New Mexico. GRADE: B

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Kickstart Entertainment

  US

• MY

  Mythic International Entertainment

  GB

• RA

  Raindance Entertainment

  US

Key crew

• ProducerNoah Miller
• ProducerJason Netter
• CastingJo Edna Boldin
• Production DesignWaldemar Kalinowski
• Set DecorationWilhelm Pfau
• Costume DesignHala Bahmet
• Makeup Department HeadTarra D. Day
• Stunt CoordinatorAl Goto
• Utility StuntsEd Duran
• Dialogue EditorVal Kuklowsky
• Dialogue EditorBruce Nyznik
• Production SupervisorAmy Eldridge
• Unit Production ManagerBrendan Garst
• Hair Department HeadGeordie Sheffer
• Script SupervisorJan Rudolph
• Transportation CoordinatorHarold L. Woods
• Transportation CaptainJohn Proctor
• ProducerLogan Miller
• Stunt DoubleCassidy Vick Hice
• Key Makeup ArtistGretchen Bright
• Key Makeup ArtistSheila Trujillo
• Art Department AssistantMari Kempes
• Art Department CoordinatorAshley Michelle Marsh
• Assistant Property MasterJohn C. Cameron

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• husband wife relationship
• new mexico
• religious fundamentalism
• lawman 
• religious cult
• remote farm
• 19th century
• remote town

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2013-01-24· Sundance Film Festival
• Theatrical2013-10-11R

Also known as

International titles

• Sweet VengeanceGB
• Sweetwater - Rache ist süssCH
• SweetwaterES