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The Violent Heart Videos

The Violent Heart: Trailer 1

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The Violent Heart Photos

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Movie Info

Fifteen years after the murder of his older sister, 24-year-old Daniel (2020 Emmy nominee Jovan Adepo) finds himself falling for Cassie (Grace Van Patten), an outgoing high school senior, in this Romeo & Juliet-style thriller set in the American heartland.

Genre:

mystery and thriller
Original Language:

English
Director:

Kerem Sanga
Producer:

Dan Cohen, P. Jennifer Dana, Shawn Levy, Tobey Maguire, Edward L. McDonnell, Matthew Plouffe
Writer:

Kerem Sanga
Release Date (Theaters):

Feb 19, 2021 limited
Release Date (Streaming):

Feb 19, 2021
Runtime:

1h 47m
Production Co:

21 Laps Entertainment, Material Pictures, 3311 Productions

Cast & Crew

Jovan Adepo
Daniel

Grace Van Patten
Cassie

Lukas Haas
Joseph

Mary J. Blige
Nina

Kimberly Williams-Paisley
Helen

Jahi Di'Allo Winston
Aaron

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for The Violent Heart

All Critics (16) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (7)

...our emotional investment in these often thinly drawn characters has plummeted like GameStop stock.

February 20, 2021 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
The problem with The Violent Heart isn't that it goes too far, it's that it doesn't go far enough.

February 19, 2021 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Matt Zoller Seitz
RogerEbert.com
Like the two lovers at its center, his film is never given the chance to become what it's striving to be.

February 19, 2021 | Full Review…

Noel Murray
Los Angeles Times
If this one still bites off more than it can chew, its ambition nevertheless reaffirms Sanga as a skilled and emotionally sensitive filmmaker who's attuned to the low-frequency wavelengths that tend to get flattened out by stories with this kind of sweep.

February 18, 2021 | Rating: B | Full Review…

David Ehrlich
indieWire
The subtlety of Sanga's filmmaking allows for big twists to come as a genuine surprise.

February 18, 2021 | Full Review…

Teo Bugbee
New York Times
This is what they call "a mixed review," and yet if you think of "The Violent Heart," not as a movie, but as a calling card, it's promising.

February 17, 2021 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
The Violent Heart comes so close to being substantial and great that it's almost worse when it makes a hard left into its revelations...

March 4, 2021 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Steven Prokopy
Third Coast Review
Good acting by newcomers aided by strong supporting cast of movie veterans.

February 26, 2021 | Rating: 6/10 | Full Review…

Jackie K. Cooper
jackiekcooper.com
By the end, The Violent Heart goes down a fittingly dark path, but on a note that wants to be more bittersweet when it's honestly just bitter.

February 25, 2021 | Rating: 6/10 | Full Review…

Jon Negroni
The Young Folks
The Violent Heart's transformation from well-meaning drama to Something Else left me cold.

February 19, 2021 | Full Review…

John Serba
Decider
Deeply felt portrayals outshine the narrative contrivances in this character-driven ensemble drama.

February 19, 2021 | Full Review…

Todd Jorgenson
Cinemalogue
If the climax seems wanting, perhaps one twist too many, it still doesn't spoil the mystery we see unfold and the solutions we have time to consider

February 18, 2021 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Roger Moore
Movie Nation