An Underrated Amy Adams HBO Miniseries Featured Sydney Sweeney Before Euphoria

Gillian Flynn's crime thriller "Gone Girl" became a bestseller when it was published in 2012, and David Fincher's 2014 film adaptation, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, cemented its perspective-shifting narrative and jarring twist in the pop culture pantheon. Four years later, HBO capitalized on that success with an adaptation of Flynn's earlier novel from 2006, "Sharp Objects," as a miniseries. 

Amy Adams gives a piercing performance as Camille Preaker, a woman diagnosed with non-suicidal self-injury who makes a living as a crime reporter. Camille returns to her insular hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri to investigate two missing girls, and reluctantly reconnects with her abusive mother and unruly younger half-sister Amma. Amy Adams lends her character a haunted stillness. Camille is quietly observant and moves slowly, as if the weight of her childhood traumas presses down on every step. Her husky-voiced sardonicism masks her raw internal wounds, the anguish of which is carved into words all over her body.  

"Sharp Objects" is a grim Southern Gothic that exposes the ugliness of human nature, especially the kind that brews in the sticky heat that you can practically feel radiating off the screen. It has the malevolent bite, deeply flawed female characters, and twist ending revealing a painful truth that typifies Gillian Flynn's work. Aside from Amy Adams' brooding performance, "Sharp Objects" also boasts Chris Messina, Patricia Clarkson, and an early appearance from Sydney Sweeney in one of the series' standout episodes.

Sydney Sweeney plays the role of Alice, which was expanded from only a brief mention in Flynn's book. Alice only appears in flashbacks during the third episode, "Fix," but her character helps flesh out Camille's complex feelings towards her deceased younger sister, Marian. Camille has never gotten over that loss, and her relationship with Alice becomes a brief way to experience a sisterly type of love.

Alice is Camille's 16-year-old roommate at a psychiatric hospital. At first, Alice is standoffish, but then they joke about their age difference. Alice calls Camille the "Peter Pan of cutting" because she is in her 30s, and it is typically considered a teenage compulsion. Camille teaches Alice how to properly put on lipstick while Alice shares the joys of listening to music as a form of escapism from problems. The episode gradually reveals what happened to Alice, which is just another entry in Camille's book of afflictions. Sydney Sweeney crushes your heart as Alice; with her wide eyes conveying hope and innocence and her small, trembling voice, you can see why Camille wanted to take her under her wing.

Sydney Sweeney would continue to play troubled teenagers. That same year, she appeared as Eden in "The Handmaid's Tale," Nick's 15-year-old wife who tries to be obedient until she falls in love with another man. The youthfully tragic roles of Alice and Eden prepared Sweeney for her star-making performance as the deeply insecure and emotionally fragile Cassie in the edgy teen fantasia "Euphoria." "Sharp Objects" cuts audiences deep with its bleak vision of the world. The miniseries is one of Sydney Sweeney's best television shows. Even though her appearance in "Sharp Objects" is small, it is pivotal.