Heartless
IFC Midnight | Release Date: November 19, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Entertainment WeeklyClark CollisDec 12, 2010
Unpredictability isn't this horror film's strength, but it's stylishly crafted and excellently acted, and it boasts an abundance of heart in every sense of the word. Read full review
70
Village VoiceNick PinkertonDec 12, 2010
With erratic success, Heartless tries a number of different veins-urban fairy tale with "There was no magic, it was you all along" twist, supernatural family drama-but it's on firmest footing as a macabre comedy. Read full review
70
VarietyJoe LeydonDec 12, 2010
There's more mood than matter here, but suspenseful atmospherics effectively distract from minor plot holes. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinDec 11, 2010
This compelling psychological horror-thriller contains a tremendous amount of heart. That would be largely thanks to a moving and deeply sensitive lead performance by Jim Sturgess Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinDec 12, 2010
Heartless gets progressively better as it goes along, and benefits from a poignant late cameo from Timothy Spall as Sturgess' beloved father, but it never recovers from a dull first hour. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianStan HallDec 7, 2010
Storywise, Heartless is a bit of a jumble, especially in its last third. But it's got a distinct tone, contrasting romance and even outright sentimentality with urban dread and a few nasty visuals. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithDec 12, 2010
A supernatural take on "Death Wish" meets "Faust," Heartless is an uneasy mixture of B-movie shocks, social commentary and sentimentality that shows a potent imagination at work. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 12, 2010
Best appreciated for its sustained creepy vibe and sporadically arresting images, Heartless moves from one outré moment to another, from one self-conscious allusion to the next ("Donnie Darko" and "Taxi Driver"). It doesn't go anywhere special or much of anywhere, though it goes there in appreciably icky style. Read full review
60
EmpireKim NewmanDec 12, 2010
Effective jump-shocks and a strong turn from Eddie Marsan mask an over-complicated last act. Read full review
55
NPRScott TobiasDec 12, 2010
Heartless seems eternally at war with its own genre, unwilling to succumb to bloody mayhem yet neither smart nor coherent enough to transcend horror convention. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearDec 12, 2010
We know how these bargains turn out, so all we're left to do is watch pretentious exchanges about grief pile up, laugh at the way the movie exploits its Indian-girl-as-innocence-personified notion and wish that Eddie Marsan's giddy cameo as Hell's personal weapons dealer were much, much longer. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderCliff DoerksenDec 11, 2010
This is the art-house equivalent of a Clive Barker splatterfest, punctuated by mildly amusing stabs at Lynchian absurdity and compromised by an incoherent plot twist that would leave M. Night Shyamalan rolling his eyes. Read full review
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