Sugar Baby (2025) Review

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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“Sugar Baby” Film Details

Runtime: 1 Hour and 37 Minutes
Release Date: February 12, 2025
Initially Available On/Via: BET Plus
Advisory Film Rating: Rated TV-MA
Genre(s): Drama, Romance
Distributor(s): BET+
Director(s): Jamal Hill
Writer(s): Shaun Sinclair
Based On Work By: Emma Franklin, Shaun Sinclair

Summary

Jade comes from a single-parent household, where her mom had her as a teen. Her latest relationship is with a wannabe hustler named G-Ro, and while she is able and willing to work, there is a desire to be a kept woman. So, upon meeting Angel and almost stumbling into the world of sugar babies, Jade feels out of place. However, Anthony Walton’s time and attention may change her mind. The only problem is, while capable of changing her mind and circumstance, Anthony can’t erase Jade’s past and keep it from catching up with her.

Character Descriptions

Jade (Christina Cooper)

Jade is a young woman who hasn’t had it easy. She was raised by a single mom who didn’t have a lot of money, she is an artist who doesn’t seem to have gotten much of an investment in her village, and while beautiful, she knows all too well what kind of men that attracts.

G-Ro (TJ Atoms)

G-Ro is a hustler of the worst variety for he isn’t slinging anything or trying to be entrepreneurial in the slightest, he just robs places and people.

Angel (Teresa Celeste)

Angel is Jade’s manager at the restaurant she ends up working at who, while fully grown, is a sugar baby, with about three men in rotation. She introduces Jade to the lifestyle as well as creates the opportunity for Jade, and others, to meet and form transactional relationships with sugar daddies.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Millennials: Season 1.”

Anthony (Lance Gross)

Anthony is a billionaire thanks to his business which specializes in creating modern, high-tech, skyscrapers. But, while rich, he is also a widow, is just coming around to the point of putting himself out there, and with that, he enters the environment where sugar babies, and daddies, are on the prowl.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Dutch.”

Review

Highlight(s)

• It Doesn’t Necessarily Damn The Sugar Babies [82/100]

One of the things that could be appreciated about “Sugar Baby” is that there isn’t a desire to damn the practice of being a Sugar Baby. Now, does Angel make it clear it is a transactional relationship, damn near a business? Yes. Are we also shown and told about sugar daddies, besides Anthony, who are terrible people who cheat on their wives or see women as nothing different from the material items they buy? Also, yes.

However, while there is a need to address the worst-case scenario, it also presents the idea that these sugar babies are also just women who are dating up and using the opportunities of their beauty to, like Angel, learn a trade or gain experience to further their independence, if not maintain their lifestyle when they are no longer considered young, cute, and the hottest thing out there.

In many ways, what we see is similar to what is showcased in “Parthenope,” but this takes place in modern times, focuses on Black women in Atlanta, and women like Angel aren’t against accepting desire for experiences and material things. And when you think about it, why should they be against it? As one of Angel’s friends push, why, if you have the option, would you be with someone in the hustling stage of their life, when they have a limited amount to offer, when someone can take you to exotic places, refine your palate, introduce you to different cultures, and the fine things in life?

Yes, for those who can’t afford to give this kind of lifestyle, it can make you feel undesirable but as shown by Jade, there are also beautiful people who will hold down someone while they go to jail because robbing people is their preferred way of making money rather than working a real job.

On The Fence

• G-Ro & The Conflict Of The Story [72/100]

One of the odd things about “Sugar Baby” is how G-Ro is handled. He presents the central conflict but is absent for so much of the movie that it can feel like he is an afterthought, until it is time to wrap up and he is thrown back into the mix and that storyline then gets quickly resolved.

• It Skirts Around The Criticism Of Sugar Daddies [77/100]

For the men we see, there are no sugar mommas in “Sugar Baby,” you get a sense that Anthony may not be an outlier. From being divorced, into kinks, maybe working too much to date but still wanting some intimacy in their life, these men seek out these beautiful women for such things. Now, does the film touch on why these men don’t just look for someone their own age and established? Only for a moment. Anthony makes a comment that young women are broke and women his age are broken, but after Jade checks him, the conversation ends there.

To me, this was a bit of a missed opportunity. Granted, “Sugar Baby” leans towards an unconventional romance story, but like we see in a lot of BET+ movies, holiday and otherwise, there are these moments where you can see a grander conversation could be had, but it is sidestepped. Which I get, as noted with the last topic, there is a tone that a lot of BET+ movies have where, unless it is undeniably a drama, things can often come off light and even when dramatic, it is more for show than anything else.

Overall

Our Rating (77/100): Mixed (Divisive)

“Sugar Baby” is likable but fits that mold of films that want to touch upon an interesting subject matter but don’t seem to want to go all in. Do April and her friends tell you how people become sugar babies, the lifestyle, and potential pitfalls? Yes. Does Anthony allow you a sense of why these men are sugar daddies versus just dating women, never mind women their own age and social status? Yes. But, it is almost all in tidbits rather than conversations or things seen on screen.

In some ways, this is great, for the hard lessons often are traumatic. But, it does feel like a disservice to take a lifestyle which has some much intrigue attached to it, and keep things so superficial. However, considering the push of how those in power being superficial opens the door to be a sugar baby, maybe that is why certain decisions were made.

Content Information

• Dialog: Cursing
• Violence: Gun Violence, Blood, Torture
• Sexual Content: Sexual Situations (Implied)
• Miscellaneous: Drinking, Smoking

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Links

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