The second-to-last movie I saw for Afterdark Toronto was from the UK and entitled, Heartless.
This movie is set in slummy east London and stars Jamie, depressed loner with a large skin deformity, (Like a heart shaped birthmark) on his face and arm. He lives with his mum, works with his brother as a photographer, (The family business) and still mourns the death of his father. While out taking pictures of his ratty neighborhood, Jamie begins to notice what appear to be gangs of demons in hoodies running about. These visions herald a violent crime wave in the neighborhood as the television begins reporting people being harassed and killed by a youth gang wearing demonic masks. Eventually Jamie comes face to face with the violence and is badly shaken.
Jamie spends much of the beginning of the film in a constant state of moping and sulking. He moons over one girl he barely knows, and makes a friend; but nothing seems to shake his quiet emo-mood. (His own hoodie doesn't help this comparison to teenage crybabies) Even encounters with the demon gang just seem to make him more withdrawn and depressed rather than say, fearful or paranoid. He's kind of annoying in this regard. Jamie's already-dead father is mostly absent from the movie, but he seems to play a pivotal role all the same.
His own losses are the catalyst to a strange meeting in the rooftop flat of an abandoned apartment with a powerful man who seems to suggest that he is the devil. There he is convinced to make a deal with the in exchange for a new life. Of course, things will probably not go as Jamie hopes. But at least Jamie's getting a little more proactive; it looks good on him.
The film has a couple of good characters, and a smidge of humour mostly due to a business like agent of the devil, an incredibly vain gay prostitute, and a devilish little girl. But as things get more lively and fun, they also seem to get more evil and tragic too. Kind of a weird dichotomy.
There's a lesson or two in the movie, and it's got plenty of good jump scares and anxious atmosphere as well as a surprising climax. The soundtrack fits with the whole ...melodramatic style of Jamie's dilemma with a lot of popular music, (Though not songs or artists I recognize) some of which has lyrics that seem way too apt.
Though not without a few miscues, this is a very good example of a well rounded movie and enthralling film with a genuine story arc.
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