Vampirism on film is always looking to reinvent itself and offer up something that we’re not used to seeing. The last couple of years have seen a steady rise in fresh and interesting takes, vampirism as a disease being a frequently occurring theme. Rose: A Love Story recently explored the topic within the confines of a marriage, and new film My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To looks at the same situation from within the structure of family ties.
Older siblings Dwight (Patrick Fugit) and Jessie (Ingrid Sophie Schram) live to keep their younger brother Thomas (Owen Campbell) alive. Thomas is afflicted by a mystery illness that leaves him craving human blood for sustenance and unable to step out into the sun. Tensions within the familial home reach breaking point as Thomas begins yearning to connect with others his age. Dwight begins to suffocate under the pressures of his assigned duty leaving Jessie alone to struggle to tie them all together.
My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To is a vampire film that plays close themes and narrative patterns found within Let the Right One In. In Let the Right One In it was vampire Eli that forced her ‘protector’ out to get her food, here writer and director Jonathan Cuartas switches it around and places our maternal figure Jessie into that role of boss. By exploring the scenario from this different perspective, Cuartas opens up discourse around the bonds of family, obligation, and love, and the strain that these can put upon the psyche.
In spite of their ages, the exchanges between the trio of siblings aligns more with a parent-toddler relationship than parent-teenager. There’s an innocence to Thomas, that despite his affliction, ages down his tantrums and understanding of the world around him. Having been kept contained indoors for an undisclosed amount of time, he has no understanding of how the world works and how dangerous he can be to it, and it is that which makes him even more deadly. Our ‘vampire’ almost seems to not quite realise that that is what they are, and instead believe themselves to be merely sick and this creates plenty of tension.
Stylistically, My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To aligns itself very strongly within the mubblecore arena, a style of filmmaking that has been consistently made across the last couple of decades. One of its many characteristics relies on its characters to all mumble or whisper to one another, making it almost impossible to fully understand what they’re saying. This causes the occasional instance of frustration when watching and that’s especially true here. Where Cuartas corrects these issues is within the atmosphere. There’s a claustrophobic quality to the piece, most likely linked to the closed in setting of the small house that they inhabit. This, coupled with some clever lighting and intriguing performances, draws the viewer into the family and their plight, and though you may have to strain to hear everything that they are saying to one another, there are enough visual clues to help fill in any blanks.
An intriguing exploration of the ties that bind, My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To slowly and steadily weaves its intricate web, before exploding into goopy emotionally-charged violence, and affirming itself as a great debut feature. Vampires on film are almost always interesting, and Cuartas offers plenty of new material and ideas to place it towards the top of the new wave of nosferatu-centric movies.
My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To arrives on Digital HD from 28th June 2021.
My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To
Summary
A great atmosphere, interesting perspective, and some intriguing performances draw you into this indie horror feature debut.
