# Sweetbitter (2018)

> A 22-year-old newcomer to New York City takes a job at a celebrated downtown restaurant and is pulled into its world of drugs, romance, and excess.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/66661

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 14
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Stephanie Danler
- Network: STARZ
- Cast: Ella Purnell, Tom Sturridge, Evan Jonigkeit, Eden Epstein, Jasmine Mathews, Daniyar, Paul Sparks, Caitlin FitzGerald
- TMDB rating: 7.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7563270/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: sensual, hazy, melancholic, restless, seductive, punishing

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series mixed, appreciating its atmospheric New York restaurant world and lead performance while finding the story uneven.

## Synopsis

Sweetbitter (2018-2019) is an American prestige drama series created by Stephanie Danler for STARZ, adapted from her novel of the same name. Ella Purnell plays Tess, a 22-year-old who arrives in New York City and lands a job at a celebrated downtown restaurant. Tom Sturridge plays Jake, a bartender who becomes part of her orbit, while Evan Jonigkeit plays Will and Eden Epstein plays Ari, fellow staffers whose rivalries and friendships shape her days. The engine of the show is Tess's effort to learn the restaurant's exacting rituals and its social hierarchy while she is swept into drinking, drug use, and love affairs that feel both thrilling and punishing. Each episode moves through shifts, after-hours bars, and tense romantic entanglements, building a two-season, fourteen-episode story that is more about mood than plot. The tone is sensual, hazy, and melancholic, with a restless atmosphere of youthful longing and self-destruction. Set in contemporary Manhattan, it has the lush, sultry texture of a city that promises everything and charges for it. Fans of Girls, The Bear, and Euphoria will find resonance in its frank portrayal of young adult ambition and appetite. The series was canceled after its second season, leaving its story unfinished.

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