My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To

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My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To
My-heart-cant-beat-unless-you-tell-it-to-movie-poster-md.jpg
Film poster
Directed byJonathan Cuartas
Written byJonathan Cuartas
Produced byJesse R. Brown
Patrick Fugit
Anthony Pedone
Starring
CinematographyMichael Cuartas
Edited byT.J. Nelson
Music byAndrew Rease Shaw
Distributed byDark Sky Films
Release date
  • July 28, 2020 (2020-07-28) (Shanghai Film Festival)[1]
Running time
90 mins
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Spanish

My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To[2] is a 2020 American psychological horror drama film written and directed by Jonathan Cuartas and starring Patrick Fugit, Ingrid Sophie Schram, and Owen Campbell.[3]

Plot[]

A woman, Jessie, and her brother, Dwight, care for their chronically ill younger sibling, Thomas, who is unable to venture outdoors during the day and must regularly drink blood to survive. Dwight and Jessie provide blood for Thomas by routinely murdering strangers, mainly homeless people and drifters. Jessie works as a waitress in a local diner, while Dwight spends his days pawning items he finds around town and visiting a prostitute who he pays extra for a few minutes conversation after their liaisons.

After a particularly grisly murder, Dwight begs Jessie to get real medical help for Thomas. She refuses and instead orders Dwight to procure a new victim. He lures a Spanish-speaking migrant named Eduardo into his car, but Eduardo escapes and wounds Dwight with a screwdriver when Dwight attempts to strangle him. Dwight subdues Eduardo after a fight in the forest, but the latter's desperate pleas for mercy convince Dwight to spare him. He restrains Eduardo in a shed in his backyard.

Jessie hunts and kills the prostitute that Dwight had befriended, leaving him distraught. That night, Thomas complains of loneliness at the dinner table and implores Jessie to let him socialize with the local children he hears outside his window. When she refuses, he overturns his bowl of blood, infuriating his sister. In an attempt to make contact with the outside world, Thomas writes a note on a paper airplane and opens the front door to hurl it at a group of passing teenagers. Dwight appears behind him and quickly covers him with a blanket, but not before Thomas sustains severe burns on his arm. That night, Eduardo escapes the shed and attempts to kill Dwight, but he fights back and kills Eduardo in front of Thomas.

Later, one of the teenage boys who found Thomas' note comes to the house while Jessie is away looking for a fresh body. Thomas invites him in and tries to connect with the boy buy offering him blood to drink and playing a game that involves guessing the release year of songs Thomas plays on the piano. When Dwight enters the kitchen and discovers the boy, Dwight threatens him but is unable to kill him. Hearing Jessie return with a new victim, Dwight shoves the boy into a closet and orders him to be quiet. When Jessie finds him within the closet the boy stabs her with a kitchen knife and flees. Although bleeding heavily, Jessie orders Dwight to pursue and kill the boy.

Dwight finds the boy but spares him. He returns home to find Jessie dead in the bathtub and Thomas consuming her blood. Dwight forces Thomas out of the bathroom and locks him in a room with the dead man Jessie had brought back earlier. Dwight then buries Jessie in an outdoor grave.

In the morning, Dwight packs his things and tells Thomas he is leaving and never coming back. Soon he has a change of heart after seeing a happy family at the diner. Back at home, Thomas apologizes for his role in Jessie's death and the two brothers embrace and cry together. Thomas then asks Dwight to remove the cardboard covering the window. Dwight does so, and Thomas is killed.

Alone, Dwight drives across the country and finally arrives at a beach, where he stands on the rocks above the water and smiles.

Cast[]

Production[]

Principal photography began in May 2019 in Salt Lake City.[4] The film was scheduled to have its world premiere at the 19th Tribeca Film Festival in April 2020 before the festival was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19).[5][6]

Release[]

In September 2020, it was announced that Dark Sky Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.[7]

Reception[]

Bobby LePire of Film Threat gave the film a 7 out of 10.[8] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 98% based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10 and the site's consensus states: "Unsettling and compelling in equal measure, My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To casts a visually striking and thought-provoking spell."[9]

References[]

  1. ^ "My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To". Dualist. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  2. ^ Mann, Court (12 April 2019). "A new movie starring Mark Wahlberg, Connie Britton will be filmed in Utah". Deseret News. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  3. ^ Young, Neil (6 January 2021). "'My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To': Bahamas Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  4. ^ McNary, Dave (20 May 2019). "Film News Roundup: 'Armstrong' Doc Set for Release on 50th Anniversary of Moon Landing". Variety. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  5. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (3 March 2020). "Tribeca Fest 2020 Sets Feature Film Lineup With 95 World Premieres". deadline.com. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  6. ^ "A Statement from Tribeca". tribecafilm.com. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  7. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (17 September 2020). "Tribeca Genre Pic Gets U.S. Deal; Jason Isaacs Joins Sci-Fi Film 'Rainfall'; Sales Firm Motus Nabs Colombian Drama — Global Briefs". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  8. ^ LePire, Bobby (23 May 2020). "My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To". Film Threat. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  9. ^ "My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 2021-10-30.

External links[]

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