Is Sweet Girl a true story? The film addresses the pitfalls of the U.S. healthcare system

We are used to seeing Jason Momoa play larger-than-life characters, but in Sweet Girl, Jason plays an ordinary guy grieving the death of his wife following a decision by Big Pharma to pull an experimental drug that could have saved her life. However, ordinary for Jason Momoa is not the ordinary we are used to. 

With fists and a determination of steel, Momoa seeks revenge, getting embroiled in a controversy involving top-ranked government officials. However, as THAT mind-bending twist at the end reveals, the main protagonist in the film is not Momoa, but Isabela Merced, who plays Momoa’s daughter. 

Sweet Girl is not based on a true story. However, it addresses Big Pharma’s chokehold on the United States’ healthcare system. 

The fictional Amanda Cooper in Sweet Girl might have survived if she had access to a potentially life-saving drug. However, the drug-making company set the price way above the capabilities of an average citizen. 

Worse still, by the time Ray Cooper (Momoa) learned of the drug, he’d spent most of his savings on Amanda’s treatment. Furthermore, Cooper might have accessed the drug had the giant pharmaceutical company blocked a cheaper equivalent from reaching the market. 

Sadly, the film reflects the status of the American healthcare system. Big Pharma’s connections to politics offer large pharmaceutical companies the leeway to make decisions that adversely affect the American populace without fear of punishment. 

If Sweet Girl gets a sequel, it will continue addressing the American healthcare system. “I don’t think health care should ever be politicized,” Isabela Merced said. 

“It’s a very tricky situation, but if we address it in [a potential] sequel, more people would start caring about it.”