‘Sew Torn’ Review: A Visually Stunning and Quirky Crime Thriller [HARD:LINE Film Festival 2025]
The best way to describe Freddy Macdonald’s feature film debut Sew Torn is an action thriller by way of Wes Anderson. With a quirky protagonist, Rube Goldberg-esque systems made out of thread, and escalating acts of violence, Macdonald crafts something that sticks out amongst the pack, a rather unique and gorgeous experience bogged down by its own ambition.
Sew Torn follows Barbara Duggen (Eve Connolly), a young woman on the verge of losing her family’s sewing shop due to financial struggles in the wake of her mother’s death. Despite their struggles, Eve is a talented seamstress who inherited her mother’s ability to make their shop’s signature singing portraits. The film takes place across a single day in Eve’s life, after she comes across a motorcycle accident on her way home from a house call. From there, Sew Torn is split into three parts, each corresponding with a different decision Eve makes, whether she runs away from the scene of the crime or tries to intervene.
Whatever the decision, each involves an almost impossible chain of events where Eve saves herself (and others) through intricate systems made out of thread in her mobile sewing kit. It helps her retrieve guns, haul men upstairs, and even hide bodies on the side of the road. It’s a special talent that’s never explained, and just established as an inherent ability that comes with being a seamstress. It’s the strangest superhero origin story you’ve ever seen, where her superpowers are tying knots and rigging up intricate traps.
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The film’s quirkiness and charm are amplified by a stellar supporting cast, including the gruff Hudson Armitage (John Lynch), the delightful town sheriff Ms. Engel (K Callan), and an insufferable bride (Caroline Goodall). Everything about these characters and this world feels uncanny, like it all takes place in a heightened version of reality that’s both bucolic and violent, where women nimbly craft booby traps in seconds. Despite that violence, the film still has an inherent twee sensibility to it, an almost fairy tale-like quality amplified by gorgeous mountain ranges and lush greenery.
That scenery is beautifully captured by cinematographer Sebastian Klinger, who works with Macdonald to further elevate the otherworldly vibes that emanate from Sew Torn. Every beam of light is perfectly placed to craft the film’s distinct tone that feels like reality, but not quite. This is especially true with any scene set outside, as Klinger uses blue hues to make forests and natural spaces feel both awe-inspiring and bone-chilling.
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But where Macdonald misses the mark is the film’s story structure, which hinders Sew Torn from maintaining tension. By splitting the narrative into three parts that investigate three different narrative possibilities depending on Eve’s decisions, Macdonald has inherently built a start-and-stop mechanism into his script, meaning the tension is constantly having to be rebuilt. This slows down the film’s pacing and makes the gimmick feel repetitive rather than an interesting narrative device.
In a world of generic action thrillers like The Accountant 2 and The Amateur, Sew Torn is a breath of fresh air, a take on a well-worn genre that isn’t afraid to get a little weird with it. Macdonald may not use this particular narrative device to full effect, but regardless, he crafts a visual feast with a quirky cast and bizarre chains of events that will satisfy both arthouse and action fans alike. Come for the action setpieces, stay for the superhero-like abilities of our lead.
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Sew Torn
Summary
In a world of generic action thrillers, Sew Torn is a breath of fresh air, a take on a well-worn genre that isn’t afraid to get a little weird with it
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