Heartless

I was very fortunate today to see an early screening of Heartless at the American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, CA. I went into the film thinking it would be a horror film, but found it to be more of a psychological thriller with moments of horror.

I can honestly say this film absolutely blew me away! The story is brilliant and the acting superb. Jim Sturgess' obvious empathetic grasp of Jamie's insecurities as well as innocence is mesmerizing, and he gives the audience his full range of emotions throughout the film – which his fans will especially appreciate.

From the moment he first appears on screen, you just know that Jamie is a troubled soul. Jim's moving yet subtle performance as a disfigured and self conscious young man is totally convincing and elicits all the empathy this character warrants. When tragedy occurs, we see Jim's talents shine through as an emotionally distraught and unbalanced individual caught up in something he not only doesn't understand, but cannot control. Especially poignant is when a physical metamorphosis into beauty takes place. Jamie's nuanced transformation retains his persistent, underlying insecurity, never straying far from who he truly is on the inside, thus allowing us to accept, or question, what truly makes us human or a monster. The other characters in the film seem to simply support the storyline, and none of them alone has too much screen time. It's truly Jim who carries this film. However, I did find Joseph Mawle's performance as "Papa B" to be especially creepy.

With unending edge of your seat tension, my adrenaline was pumping the entire time and there were a few unexpected moments that made me jump. The story is unique and engaging, the cinematography artistically stunning, the effects dramatically appropriate for the dark subject matter, and it has a wonderful soundtrack that allows us to hear Jim's beautiful voice again throughout.

All in all, I believe that (with proper distribution) audiences will embrace this film. I can't wait to see it again!

From www.jimsturgessonline.com

Wonderfully, powerfully, moving and thought-provoking. It is a rare thing for a horror film to genuinely touch me, but Heartless did just that. It was such an odd mixture of creature-feature horror, a stunningly emotive story and fantastic characterisation that it really defies classification.

One thing I do know, however, is that watching Heartless gave me an experience like no other 'horror' film I've seen. The scare moments were in there, and I jumped in all the right places, but the deeper storyline, so brilliantly given life by Jim Sturgess and Nikita Mistry, was what made this film stand out as one of the best I have seen all year. As a general rule I'm not fond of creature/demon based films, because human beings are a lot scarier to me than something that doesn't exist, but far from being just a quest to scare you, this felt like a film that also compelled you to think, and that is where it excelled.

The characters were refreshingly three-dimensional, and I really grew to care for them, which made the story all the more engaging – I wanted things to be alright for Jamie, I was rooting for him, and the deeper I got into the story, the scarier it became. That is how horror should work, it should suck you in to a point where you feel what the protagonists are feeling; that is how to produce a real scare. Not just in a jump out of your seat moment, but in the moments after the film has ended and beyond, where you think and contemplate what you may have done in the situation.

The direction was excellent and the actual cinematography and use of photographs within the film was gorgeous. The standout element though was by far the superb acting throughout the entire piece. The leads in particular were impressive, but all of the supporting cast were stellar too.

Heartless was a winner for me, because it is a film that I know will stay with me for a long time, and could well become one of my go-to films when someone asks me for a gem.

Philip Ridley is an artist, a writer and a film director whose work is considered unconventional and unique in every form he touches. Some how he manages to marry all of these forms in his most recent HEARTLESS, including writing the lyrics to the many songs by David Julyou that play such an important role in the unfolding of this visit to the Faust legend. It is harsh, dark, disturbing, and at times a bit over the top as far as his need to make visual things that go bump in the dark. But in the end, with the incomparable help of featured actor Jim Sturgess, he makes it work.

Jamie Morgan (Jim Sturgess) is a young 25-year old photographer living in a squalid area of London with his loving mother (Marion Morgan): Jamie bears a birthmark on his face and the upper torso that makes him the victim of prejudice by the boys in the neighborhood and has resulted in his living the life of a recluse. Jamie's brother and nephew (Luke Treadway and Justin Salinger) stay close to the home but are preoccupied with other matters - some good some bad. Jamie longs for his departed father (Timothy Spall) who 'made the world make sense' and he longs for a relationship with a girl so that he can have a family and be normal. Walking the streets at night Jamie hears screams and witnesses sights that terrify him: he is aware that gangs rule the world and in time he is assaulted with his mother during a night walk and his mother is killed. In an attempt to find sense out of chaos Jamie becomes friends with a new neighbor AJ (Noel Clarke) and is offered a handgun by a local merchant (Frazer Ayers) 'to protect himself. As Jamie becomes more terrified with the creatures he sees in the night and angered by the death of his mother he ultimately meets Papa B (Joseph Mawle) who just happens to have strange powers to offer Jamie anything he wishes. Jamie makes a pact with Papa B, agreeing to promote chaos in the streets in the form of writing graffiti in turn for Papa B removing the ugly birthmark from his body. Papa B's young girl assistant Charlie (Nadia Theaker) bonds with Jamie and becomes like the daughter Jamie has always wanted.

Now, without the physical disfigurement Jamie attracts a pretty delivery girl Tia (Clémence Poésy) and seems to have found his wishes come true - with Tia and Charlie as family. But Papa B has other plans and sends his Weapons Man (Eddie Marsan) who gives Jamie an altered version of his assignment from his pact with Papa B and the world becomes ruled by horror. How Jamie responds to his new bizarre assignments changes the course of the tale, a course best not shared in a review.

Jim Sturgess makes this role of a seemingly impossible spectrum of acting an example of just how skilled he has become in his craft. The cast is good but burdened with many aspects of the bizarre that keep the viewer form connecting in a positive way. The cinematography by Matt Gray is appropriately dark and the visual effects, though excessively ugly, make the atmosphere of this dark tale work. It is a strange film and requires that viewer to suspend disbelief, but the impact and underlying message is strong.

Grady Harp

After hearing from the Director , Philip Ridley , about this movie on radio five i decided to to give it a go and i'm really pleased i did. You cant really put this film just into the Horror genre because it is much more than that. The movie looks stunning and the acting is of the highest quality (although i would have liked to have seen more of Eddie Marsen). To say it is thought provoking is an understatement and a great deal of praise should go to the Director for taking on such a heavy subject. My only criticism is i felt it began to lose it's way a little bit about 90 minutes in , but thankfully it's conclusion pulled it around wrapped up things very nicely.

Recommended.

A really great twisted Horror Thriller. Not completely as original as the filmmakers want you to believe (watch last years "The Disappeared" for a similar film/movie experience, also made/from the UK), but a really great movie. Jim Sturges, who really has played quite a few roles and seems to be a rising new star on the British horizon, carries this movie with his lead performance.

He and some of his co-stars where at the Fright Fest screening, where Jim performed a song from the soundtrack of the movie. A soundtrack that has been written just for the movie and is integrated very well into it. Very subtle layered and greatly acted, this might need a second viewing, to get most of the story!