Do you consider anyone in the movie a role model? Cassie is, Nine-year-old Daniel lives in a town outside of Nashville. An only child, she is particularly close to her father, an English teacher at her school. Good movies can get away with murder, while bad movies cant get away with anything. Expect a smattering of strong language ("f--k," "s--t," "oh my God") and a non-graphic love scene, as well as passionate kissing between a couple who are 24 and 18 -- an age difference that feels uncomfortable. Espaol (prximamente) - volver al inicio, Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More, Common Sense Selections for family entertainment, Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More, Growing Up Queer: Thoughtful Books About LGBTQ+ Youth, Check out new Common Sense Selections for games, Teachers: Find the best edtech tools for your classroom with in-depth expert reviews, What to Do If Your Young Child Sees Pornography. [8][9] In December 2020, Gravitas Ventures acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for a February 19, 2021, release. : Everything We Know About 'The Resident' Season 7. Researchers found that young women who experience heart attacks are more commonly known to have a history of high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease, and stroke compared to men of the same age. Throughout, Van Patten has to wrestle with a certain weakness in Cassies characterization, but especially at the start. 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. He ends up meeting a high school girl named Cassie who brought her dad's car to get an oil change. Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners. She is beautiful and gentle, a high school student with the entire world ahead of her. Cut to FIFTEEN YEARS LATER. 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. It seems to be making a powerful statement about second chances and how some people get them (like a white straight-A student) and some people dont (a promising Black youth derailed by an adolescent mistake). Is it a coming-of-age movie? Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. 2023 IndieWire Media, LLC. 1,200, This story has been shared 1,160 times. Quiet and clenched and eager to follow his father into the Marines, he seems to be doing a pretty good job of it, but a jail stint on his record suggests that hasnt always been the case. Adepo and Van Patten have decent chemistry, but their relationship seems ill-conceived from the start. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. I liked the performances, its visual detail, its familiar yet effective depiction of psychological trauma and its destructive fallout. The parents' guide to what's in this movie. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. The Violent Heart was a VOD / Digital release in 2021 on Friday, February 19, 2021. 2023 METACRITIC, A FANDOM COMPANY. It somewhat profoundly depicts the ripple effects of violence via incidents involving Daniel and Aaron; it profoundly undermines this theme by turning the ripples into tidal waves, a metaphor I wield for its improbable defiance of the laws of physics. The Violent Heart 2020 Unrated 1 h 47 m IMDb RATING 6.0 /10 681 YOUR RATING Rate Play trailer 1:36 1 Video 12 Photos Drama Thriller Fifteen years after the murder of his older sister, Daniel finds himself falling for Cassie, a vivacious high school senior. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba. A man who witnessed the murder of his sister tries to rebound in this subtle melodrama. Always showing the love for mechanical things since a child, Daniel strives to become a mechanical engineer for the marines fifteen years after the mysterious murder of his older sister Wendy. Families can talk about the violence depicted in The Violent Heart. 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. Ships from and sold by BullMoose. Advertisement Follow the Updates Wed., Jan. 20, 2021 added a link from gravitasventures.com added photos to the photos gallery That result is . 'The Violent Heart' Gravitas Ventures presents a film written and directed by Kerem Sanga. Though the movie is being billed as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story, race is not an overt obstacle to their getting together. Easier still because Sanga doesnt play the reveals for shock value so much as inevitability, and his biggest bombshells are only as powerful as their aftershocks. The movie's strengths revolve around Daniel's story arc: his childhood trauma, his desire to join the military and make his father proud, his devotion to his mother (the excellent if underused Mary J. Blige) and 15-year-old brother Aaron (Jahi Di'Allo), who goes to the same high school as Cassie. Available on STARZ, Philo, Prime Video, iTunes, Hulu Fifteen years after the murder of his older sister, Daniel is falling for Cassie, a vivacious high school senior. Let us know what you think in the comments below. Coming Soon, Regal What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Adepo and Van Patten represent a couple we dont often see on-screen. by Ed McDonnell DVD . We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. When Will 'New Amsterdam' Season 3 Be On Netflix? 'Missing' Review: Stand-Alone 'Searching' Sequel Takes Gimmick to Bigger (and Dumber) Places Against all odds, a redemptiveromance blooms betweenDaniel and Cassie (Grace Van Patten), an 18-year-old high school senior. Sanga moves these people around the board like chess pieces who are oblivious to the gambit thats being orchestrated around them, and the under-developed aspects of The Violent Heart often leave the impression of a film that was reverse-engineered from its shattering endgame. It had its world premiere at the Deauville Film Festival on September 9, 2020. Gravitas Ventures will release The Violent Heart on VOD on Friday, February 19. Running time: 107 minutes. The problem is that Cassie is conceived of as an amalgamation of cliches nerd, daddys girl, oblivious temptress, bland nice person. This is not to say that its not entertaining in a way, its even more entertaining for being insanely ridiculous. But something sure seems off. Douglas Sirk and George Stevens linger in the collective imagination because they knew how to swing for the fences without making audiences cry foul. Race isn't overtly mentioned, but the movie is set in Tennessee, and Cassie's parents (Haas and Kimberly Williams-Paisley) mention "that boy" and how "troubled" he is, so it's there all the same. Copyright Fandango. 897, This story has been shared 830 times. (This isnt entirely their fault, as the screenplay gives Daniel just a few notes to play mostly variations on anger while Cassie is little more than a cipher.). She soon finds out him and another teacher at the school are somewhat having an affair. Daniel sees his sister sneak out the door and follows to a dark, secluded spot in the woods, where she is killed. Cinemark But what The Violent Heart aspires to is at odds with what it is capable of achieving.There are some great performances here by Lukas . You are about to exit without submitting your review. Opens Friday at Emagine Frankfurt and on demand. Since he witnessed the murder of his sister; he tries to juggle the life that he wants for the awful memories that he has left behind. She repliesto reports of incidents that shattered his self image and wounded his soul with counter-examples of bad stuff that just happened to her. [4], Principal photography began in February 2019. Fifteen years later in the same Tennessee town, Daniel (Jovan Adepo) is a 24-year-old mechanic who's trying to enlist in the Marines despite a prior felony conviction. All rights reserved. Rating: C-plus. His lead: A bright and beaming high school senior named Cassie (Grace Van Patten), who seems to willfully reject the popularity that she ought to own like a birthright. Fifteen years later, Daniel lives at home with his mom and teen brother Aaron. Why not let the story be what it's already inclined to be? If you're interested to know more about me or this blog in general head to the 'about me' tab in the menu bar. The films of Douglas Sirk have been repeatedly invoked in advance press for this moviereviews and film festival coverage alikewith "Magnificent Obsession" name-checked most often. [3] In February 2019, Cress Williams joined the cast of the film. Where Cassie figures out their past have alot of connections that will soon surface. Back home, Daniel reckons with the kid he was, the man he became, and the different man he is now; Joseph previously told Cassie shes independent, but balks when she asserts it in the face of his disapproval. Why boil the pot with that brutal shooting up front, then relegate it to the back burner? When Cassie takes her car in for an oil change and meets Daniel theres instant chemistry. ", If These Walls Could Sing Charts History Of The Worlds Most Famous Recording Studio, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Sometimes When We Touch' on Paramount+, A Doc That Observes The Rise And Legacy Of The '70s Soft Rock Sound, Depeche Mode 101 Is 80s Synth Pop Postcard And Reality TV Blueprint, Stream It Or Skip It: Qala on Netflix, An Indian Movie That Will Remind You Of Black Swan, Stream It Or Skip It: Strange World on Disney+, an Animated Saga With Grand Visuals, Preachy Themes and Forgettable Characters. Nearly 20 years after a CTA experiment with bus surveillance cameras failed miserably, Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to try it again and then some in a designated downtown area. Drama 2021 1 hr 42 min STARZ. 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. His wariness is the product of having already experienced tragedy. Interviews with leading film and TV creators about their process and craft. It really is that dumb, a big fat I-dont-buy-this NOPE of a conclusion that undoes a lot of what precedes it. So for young Daniel (Jovan Adepo), the world has not been a friendly place, while Cassie (Grace Van Patten), who doesnt know better, thinks the world belongs to her. [5], It had its world premiere at the Deauville Film Festival on September 9, 2020. High school senior Cassie (Grace Van Patten) is an only child who's so close to her father, Joseph (Lukas Haas), that she doesn't mind the fact that he's also her English teacher. $11.24. set in the rolling nowhere of rural tennessee, sanga's twinkling southern tragedy his first movie since 2016's excellent "first girl i loved" gives us a teenage girl with the world at her feet,. A connector at heart, Claire is solution-focused and people-centric, believing that the best investment she can make is devoting her time, skills, and energy towards the fight to end sexual . 1,160, This story has been shared 1,062 times. The problem with"The ViolentHeart" isn't that it goes too far, it's that it doesn't go far enough. Cassie is a star student, but bored by the final stretch of high school. . Hes reserved in demeanor, seems to keep to himself, and is still haunted by the experience, understandably so. Its hard to tell. Mary J. Blige brings the weight of painful life experience to her role as Daniels mother, and Lukas Haas at least has fun playing Cassies father, a role that makes so little sense you may still be laughing about it a day later. Gallery that result is with counter-examples of bad stuff that just happened to her father, an English teacher the... Independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission movies can away. 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