Review of Heartless (2010) by Sean P — 01 May 2012

Heartless definitely deserves a watch, it just has that little something that makes it great. It's a rather unusual thriller with a side order of Horror, it's very mysterious with a handful of excellent scares. It's set in a dark and dingy area of London where around any corner genuine horrors could quite possibly exist.

We follow the confused and insecure Jamie, played extremely well by the relatively unknown Jim Sturgess. He has a heart shaped birthmark on his face which is the main route of his insecurities. We see a huge range of emotions from Jim through his bizarre transformation. Much of the story seems very fantastical but it works very well and is somehow grounded by the cast and the setting. Without going into specifics of the story, we are witness to the very things of nightmares with weird and wonderful introductions, two in particular to mention are Joseph Mawle and Eddie Marsan' characters that although are small parts give even more credibility to this incredible story.

The soundtrack is perfect and was written for the film making each track apt and perfectly suited to the scene.

Director Philip Ridley obviously knows his stuff we are treated to great angles of the darker side of London. It is a film that stays with you once the credits roll and begs to be watched again - this is mainly down to it's quality but also because of it's odd quirkiness that can sometimes lead to confusion There are dark things at work in this film and in our lead characters mind. It's a very unusual film but ultimately satisfying, addressing a number of issues and challenging the audience. This film works mainly due to Jim Sturgess - He grounds an otherwise obscure and fantastical Brit Horror.