The Violent Heart

Leave aside for the moment that Sanga is exploring Hitchcockian beats that most film-goers have not seen in their lifetimes. And leave aside also the perfect casting, especially Van Patten successfully selling a complicated and counter-intuitive character ,while at the same time playing Older-4-Younger. What really matters is that Sanga stuck to the core rule of story-telling that so many modern auteurs forget -- engage the viewer. Connect to the character. Hold the attention.

I would watch it again. My wife she didn't think one part was believable, so she was indifferent.

It's one of those bleak, slingblade type settings, which could be too dreary for some viewers. I on the otherhand, love those type of backdrop drama/suspense movies. It's dark, but has some bright spots between the brothers, and love interests.

The darkness tends affect the pace at times, which is a slight downer. It could have been a little more suspense.

The direction was great. Writing was great. The leads did their parts. I guess one part could have been a tad more believable, but all in all it didn't bother me.

Pleasant movie, with a mostly black cast which is pretty awesome. I highly recommend.

I'm not going to spoil the movie for anyone reading my review. All I wanted to say is that this movie is a rollercoaster of emotions. Brilliantly written and acted by all characters. Like it says in the description; this movie will have you believing that it about A 24 year old black male who's involved with an 18 year old white girl in who's still in high school but it's so much more than that. This film states it was made in 2020 but I recently saw it on a movie website I frequent and this film was truly an unexpected gem. This was a original film for the genres it touches. 9/10.

I thought this was really good. It wasn't cheesy, the acting was convincing. It had an incredibly harrowing storyline and an unexpected ending. I thought it had everything a good movie needs. Definitely didn't feel I'd wasted my time watching it, at all.

This was an incredible story that grabs you from the first several minutes to the very end! As soon as I began watching, the movie, it captured my attention all the way to the end. The actors took you on a journey and you really didn't know where you were going to end ups. The ending was surprising, but not totally a shocker. I did expect a different ending. By all accounts, the acting was great, and Mary J Blige as the matriarch of the family was very convincing, although her part was very small. I highly recommend this movie without hesitation. It is worth the 1 hour and 45 minutes. Get your popcorn ready!