[10], The Violent Heart holds a 56% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 reviews, with an average of 5.6/10. This is not to say that it's not entertaining in a way, it's even more entertaining for being insanely ridiculous. Plot. The car needs work that will take overnight, so Cassie ends up asking Daniel for a ride back to the high school. Joseph (Lukas Haas) teaches English there, and his 18-year-old daughter Cassie (Grace Van Patten), a senior, is one of his students. Grace Patten (left) and Jovan Adepo play the lovers at the center of The Violent Heart.. Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers. They share some secrets and orifices. Hes earnest and moody, giving a nuanced angle on the angry young man type; shes charismatic like Shailene Woodley Lite, giving her character an astute blend of naivete and confidence. Daniel and Cassies fundamental imbalance in life experience is racially coded. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba. "The Violent Heart," available on video on demand starting Friday, Feb. 19, is a combination love story/thriller about a 24-year-old Black man and an 18-year-old white woman who is still in high. The Violent Heart, available on video on demand starting Friday, Feb. 19, is a combination love story/thriller about a 24-year-old Black man and an 18-year-old white girl who is still in high school. Women Talking and Emancipation Cinematographers on Why They Desaturated Their Oscar Contenders, When in Doubt, Cut to Margot: Editing the 30-Minute Opening Bacchanal of Babylon, Everything Is Based on Something Real: Cinematographer Russell Carpenter on Shooting Avatar: The Way of Water, The 50 Best Movies of 2022, According to 165 Critics from Around the World, All 81 Titles Unceremoniously Removed from HBO Max (So Far), 10 Shows Canceled but Not Forgotten in 2022. Its only when Cassies sexual passion is ignited that Van Pattens performance comes alive, and then The Violent Heart gets interesting: She sees no limits and has none, while he has the burden of his familys expectations and the pressure of having to find a career. Cassie is a star student, but bored by the final stretch of high school. Cut to FIFTEEN YEARS LATER. and shuffles into the woods. But the movie seems afraid to come out and name what we and the actors know that its depicting. Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox! The Violent Heart is unclear on what genre it wants to be. The parents' guide to what's in this movie. 897, This story has been shared 830 times. After catching Joseph in a compromising situation, Cassie decides that she'd like to head to Nashville too; once again, she asks Daniel for a ride. Years later, Daniel (Jovan Adepo) is still dealing with the aftermath of this traumatic experience. Coming Soon. The Violent Heart (1,126) 6.0 1 h 42 min 2021 X-Ray 18+ Fifteen years after his sister's senseless murder, Daniel finds himself falling for a vivacious high school senior named Cassie. Drama. more. 1,200, This story has been shared 1,160 times. Set on the Riviera, a young marquise buys a camera from a photographer. Before he met Cassie, he was a curled fist, ready to smash at the unfair world around him, to take his revenge, perhaps. 'There's Something Wrong with the Children' Review: Murderous Kids Have No Right to Be This Fun Director Kerem Sanga may not be working at quite the same level, but his stirring new film pays effective tribute to the likes of "Magnificent Obsession" and "A Place in the Sun" through . Even though we can feel the racial tension as subtext in a few scenes (particularly when mom and dad raise objections, and mom starts to say something like, "Also, he's" but doesn't finish) it seems unrealistic that nobody in this story would bring it up as text. Other lawsuits have been filed in state court. Memorable Dialogue: Dan gives his little brother some advice: You wanna be a real man, then you take the punch and you fing walk away.. Written and directed by Kerem Sanga, the story reveals itself in layers, unfolding first as a family drama, a meditation on grief, then a youthful romance, a suspense flick, and finally emerging fully formed as an effective thriller that unites each of these strands. 'The Violent Heart' Gravitas Ventures presents a film written and directed by Kerem Sanga. Even he thinks so, resenting how his mother (Mary J. Blige, firm but underused) seems to love Daniel more. By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and
Daniel sees his sister sneak out the door and follows to a dark, secluded spot in the woods, where she is killed. By this point, Daniel has internalized his fury, which has gotten him in trouble before. She believes in herself, and she believes in him too, and for the first time in ages, Daniel starts to unclench. Our Call: SKIP IT. It had its world premiere at the Deauville Film Festival on September 9, 2020. And why not not double down on the melodrama inherent in the story, which has an unsolved murder mystery at its heartthe solution to which isnot all that hard to figure out, honestly, and that the film doesn't even knock itself out trying to camouflage? There are a few scenes of intense violence, including three murders, two of which are bloody and disturbing. Only 1 left in stock - order soon. No, theres something bigger than the both of them percolating under the surface here, and the full truth of it obvious in parts, butlayered with implications that dont totally reveal themselves until the waning moments is so hard to swallow that most films would surely choke on it. suggesting a diversity update. 2,200, This story has been shared 2,148 times. Director Kerem Sanga Writer Kerem Sanga Stars Jovan Adepo Grace Van Patten Lukas Haas Our story begins with an extended prologue in which 9-year-old Daniel (Jordan Preston Carter), who idolizes his teenage sister Wendy (Rayven Symone Ferrell), gets on his motorbike and follows Wendy after she sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night, suitcase in hand, to meet up with a man a man who shoots her in the woods as a horrified Daniel looks on. When he was nine, he saw his older sister being murdered in the woods by a man whose face he never saw and who has gone unpunished for 15 long years. In other cases, its best just to accept the surprise and move on, salvaging what you can of the experience. Sanga encourages his actors to underplay the rage and suspicion that lingers beneath their interactions, and he instead uses the movies electronic score to build a melancholy, even ominous mood. He runs, tumbles into a ditch, peers out. It's a sturdy, middle-of-the-road drama with shades of mystery and suspense, strong. All rights reserved. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. John Sloss Is More Hopeful About the Sundance Film Market Than You Might Think, The Oscar Race for Best Picture Has Three Frontrunners as Voting Closes Tuesday, How RRR and Glass Onion Are Trying to Hack the Best Picture Oscar Race, Whered the Color Go? The problem is that Cassie is conceived of as an amalgamation of cliches nerd, daddys girl, oblivious temptress, bland nice person. If you chose to provide an email address, it will only be used to contact you about your comment. The Violent Hearts transformation from well-meaning drama to Something Else left me cold. the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes. Against all odds, a redemptiveromance blooms betweenDaniel and Cassie (Grace Van Patten), an 18-year-old high school senior. It's impossible to say an unkind word about the cast, a dazzling ensemble that includesMary J. Blige, who shines as Daniel's mother (in her first movie role since "Mudbound"); Cress Williams as Lee, Daniel'sfather, an Afghanistan veteran who inspires him to the enter the armed forces; andJahi Di'Allo Winston as Daniel's kid brother Aaron, who frets that mom favors big brother over him. Cassie tells Daniel about her father; he expressed that she must really love her father because of how she speaks about him in such a high standard. John Frankenheimer directed. He looks at her with warmth and uneasiness, while she has the perky, tempestuous energy of someone who could get a guy into serious trouble. In December 2017, Grace Van Patten and Jovan Adepo joined the cast of the film, with Kerem Sanga directing from a screenplay he wrote, with Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Ed McDonnell and Tobey Maguire, who will serve as producers under their 21 Laps Entertainment, 3311 Productions and Material Pictures banners, respectively. Cinemark Copyright Fandango. But what's onscreen feels more like a hushed, emotionally constipated middle-American indie drama, where pretty much everybody is weighed down by the horrors of the past even though they go about their days in clueless innocenceor lie about everything being fine. Curious, he follows, spots the car on the side of the road, hears voices Are they happy or distressed? Anyone can read what you share. Adepos implosive performance is arresting even when hes trying to find a way for Daniel to slip out of this entire situation, and Van Patten a singular talent whos been one role away from going supernova ever since Tramps finds hidden depths to Cassie that dont get a chance to surface on their own (it feels like the lovers talk more via text than they do in person). Starring: Jovan AdepoGrace Van PattenLukas Haas. Writer-director Kerem Sanga tries to goose his movie's energy. Its a sturdy, middle-of-the-road drama with shades of mystery and suspense, strong performances, assured direction and seemingly very little space in the current streaming-content traffic jam. Only 1 left in stock (more on the way). Running time: 107 minutes. 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She is beautiful and gentle, a high school student with the entire world ahead of her. 35,289, This story has been shared 7,823 times. He understands how the world works, and there are several brilliantly sketched beats where you can feel him wince at the recognition that his new teenage girlfriend doesnt. 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For 75 minutes or so, writer/director Kerem Sanga seems to be rooting around for a narrative foothold, but admirably sidestepping melodramatic cliches for the stuff of mundane realism you know, indie-film fodder about character and setting and the disappointments and tragedies we all understand are unavoidable elements of Life on Earth. He also has a police record, for beating up a guy in a fight he didnt start. Daniel sees his sister sneak out the door and follows to a dark, secluded spot in the woods, where she is killed. He ends up meeting a high school girl named Cassie who brought her dad's car to get an oil change. When the elusive melodrama The Violent Heart begins, Daniel is a child who idolizes his older sister Wendy (Rayven Symone Ferrell). Performance Worth Watching: Adepo and Van Patten kindle some warmth between them that couldve blossomed into full-blown chemistry with a better script. Novak, Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Drop' on Hulu, an Offbeat Relationship Comedy Led by Anna Konkle, Stream It Or Skip It: To Leslie on VOD, in Which Andrea Riseborough Gives a Riveting Portrayal of a Woman in the Grip of Alcoholism, Netflix Warns Wall Street To Expect Worst Q4 Subscriber Growth Since 2014, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Mayor of Kingstown' Season 2 on Paramount+, Where Jeremy Renner Returns As A Brooding Fixer Between Cop And Criminal, Stream It Or Skip It: Mrs. When he was 9, he watched his sister get murdered by an unknown assailant. Daniel has been living with his anger for long enough to name his demons, and the context he provides for that tricky balancing act (you start to not even notice it you kind of just become an angry person) frames the back half of this story with such bone-deep emotional force that its easy to forgive The Violent Heart for its occasional shortcuts and overarching contrivances. 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