By skyforbes I think I relate to the outsider messaging in both these movies. Women who struggle to live their lives in a unconventional manner and become constricted by it when society judges them for it.
An Angel at my Table gave me so much anxiety. Janet Frame (a incredible Kerry Fox) starts out as a seemingly normal child until she grows up and starts to show signs of depression which end up being mistaken by schizophrenia which causes her to be hospitalized for various years. It's a heartbreaking movie in some ways, the inability and frustration to express yourself because you're so shy and repressed as well. I vividly remember the scene of Janet going outside and ripping her clothes off as she's frustrated by her shyness and fear of facing people, I related to that. Very memorable movie for me. It's also uplifting.
"Sweetie" is a awkward movie but in a good way. There are two protagonists, the title character (played by Genevieve Lemon) and her sister, Kay (a terrific Karen Colston). Sweetie is wild and outgoing but erratic and clearly suffers of a mental illness which gets worse. Kay is the rational sister and yet, she's odd. Eccentric and self-destructive, she tries to keep her family together while resenting Sweetie for being the favorite. There are a couple of disturbing scenes which are left unresolved and you're expected to judge for yourself as a viewer which I appreciated. It's a drama that is occasionally funny until you realize that under that humor there's a lot of tragedy. I don't think Jane Campion has ever made a movie like this again. It's also completely unpredictable so go in blind. I liked the surrealness of it all, the sunny colors and how you never know what will happen next, but I also found the movie very sad. Like a Sunday afternoon, if you understand what I mean.