HBO
Most will know Sydney Sweeney for her performance as Cassandra "Cassie" Howard in "Euphoria" and for starring in Paul Feig's excellent wicked thriller "The Housemaid." Many will likely also be aware of her box office smash hit rom-com "Anyone But You" co-starring Glen Powell. But Sweeney is a deceptively diverse actor who has delivered some excellent performances over the last decade, as evidenced by her role in the HBO miniseries "Sharp Objects."
This eight-episode psychological thriller series is based on a novel by Gillian Flynn, who's best-known for having written "Gone Girl" (the 2014 David Fincher-helmed film adaptation of which saw the true crime trend coming well in advance). But four years after the "Seven" director put his spin on Flynn's material, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alum Marti Noxon took a shot at it with "Sharp Objects."
Noxon's adaptation of Flynn's 2006 novel took the form of a 2018 HBO miniseries starring Amy Adams as an alcoholic crime reporter who returns to her hometown to look into the murders of two young girls. There, she's forced to reckon with her past trauma. Sweeney appears in the show as a similarly troubled teen who meets Adams' character during her stay in a psychiatric hospital. It's one of the actor's best yet most overlooked performances.
Sydney Sweeney plays a troubled teen in Sharp Objects
HBO
Sydney Sweeney has had her share of hits, but she must also be used to some of her best work going overlooked. Indeed, Sweeney's 2025 film "Americana" was completely ignored at the box office and her psychological drama "Clementine" came and went without much fanfare amidst the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. But while it was nowhere near the cultural phenomenon that "Euphoria" was at the height of its success, "Sharp Objects" did receive widespread praise upon its debut in 2018, earning eight Emmy award nominations and garnering Sweeney significant attention for her portrayal of psychiatric patient Alice.
Alice shares a self-harm problem with Amy Adams' Camille Preaker — who, after returning to her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri, finds herself reflecting on her time in treatment. In these flashbacks, we see her meeting Alice, who handles her own issues by retreating into her iPod. The pair formed a bond during their time in the facility, and it seems Sweeney managed to impress "Sharp Objects" director Jean-Marc Vallée while filming her scenes as well.
As the actor once told Harper's Bazaar, "[Vallée] kept bringing me back more and more for different scenes, and he'd add me in here and there, so really, he and I were able to build my character together." It seems that was a result of Sweeney's dedication to the role, which, as she told the outlet, involved going to hospitals "where there were patients that self-harmed" and spending time with them. Equally impressive was the fact that, as she previously told Nylon, she would film her "Sharp Objects" scenes on weekends before getting on a red-eye flight to Portland to film her scenes for Netflix's "Everything Sucks!" Both ended up being two of Sydney Sweeney's best projects.
Sharp Objects features one of the most unfairly overlooked Sydney Sweeney performances
HBO
"Sharp Objects" was met with critical praise upon its 2018 debut, earning an impressive 92% "certified fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and garnering Sydney Sweeney attention for her portrayal of Alice. 2018 was, of course, the year before "Euphoria" began airing on HBO. As such, Sweeney had yet to break through with her portrayal of Cassie Howard. But with "Everything Sucks!," a role on Season 2 of "The Handmaid's Tale," and her appearance in "Sharp Objects," she had managed to build some serious momentum going into the show, ultimately paving the way to her becoming a household name.
"Sharp Objects," in particular, garnered praise from critics. Writing for Rolling Stone, Alan Sepinwall highlighted Sweeney's performance in what he referred to as a "versatile, era-spanning year" for the actor. Sepinwall added that both she and fellow "Sharp Objects" actor Eliza Scanlen were "names to watch," which turned out to be a particularly prescient observation. Years later, in 2023, Frank Bruni looked back on Sweeney's ascension in a piece for The New York Times, mentioning her appearance in "Sharp Objects" and noting how it had helped her become "prestige TV royalty."
Sadly, Alice isn't typically mentioned as one of Sweeney's best roles, but her quietly powerful performance was proof, even before she debuted as Cassie, that she was a versatile actor capable of nuanced portrayals. She'd prove as much once again in 2019 when she played the title role in the nerve-wracking dramatic thriller "Reality," which is well worth a watch in its own right. But if you missed "Sharp Objects" back in 2018, give it a go on HBO Max.
