Pulpmovies Reviews

Based on the book of the same name by J T LeRoy, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things starts with 7 year old Jeremiah (Jimmy Bennett) being removed from his foster family and returned to his mother, Sarah (Asia Argento), a 23 year old junkie. Sarah’s attempts at bonding with her son are weak – to say the least – and it’s not long before Jeremiah runs away, looking for his foster parents. ‘

Not surprisingly, he doesn’t find them and, instead, ends up at a police station waiting for his mother to arrive. To say that being fed ice cream by a kindly cop in a police station is the happiest moment that Jeremiah enjoys in the entire film is not only an understatement, but – hopefully – gives some indication of how things go from here on in.

Having failed to instantly win her son over with her poor attempts at motherhood, Sarah resorts to emotional manipulation and, fearing the return of the social services, takes him on the road.

And so begins the dysfunctional relationship at the heart of this story.

As Sarah works her way through a seemingly endless string of loser lovers, drink and drugs, Jeremiah find himself, by turns, abused – both physically and emotionally – and neglected. This isn’t to say that Sarah is wilfully evil, more that she lacks the knowledge, the patience and the strength of character to take care of a young child – as is evidenced when she not only allows Jeremiah to consume beer and pills, but actively encourages him to do so.

This reaches a nadir when Sarah vanishes, leaving Jeremiah in the care of her paedophile boyfriend.

And it’s at these moments of extreme trauma that Jeremiah takes refuge in a childish fantasy world, populated by a pair of animated red crows. The crows are crudely animated, and deliberately so, and do an excellent job of getting across the fractured mentality of a 7 year old under appalling stress. Even Jeremiah’s fantasy world is an unpleasant place.

Following this, Jeremiah then falls into the hands of his disciplinarian, Bible-thumping grandparents. This is neither a loving nor a happy home but, with time, Jeremiah (now aged 11 and played by Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse) appears to have gotten used to things.

And then Sarah reappears, with yet another boyfriend in tow…

Essentially a road movie without a destination, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things explores, with an unflinching gaze, the unhealthy and mutually dependent relationship that develops between Sarah and Jeremiah.

While not overly graphic, this is both a powerful and disturbing film in which the audience is allowed no uncertainty whatsoever as to what is happening. As such, it is a tribute to Asia Argento’s directorial abilities that she has managed to handle a series of – frankly shocking – scenes in a manner that is both unambiguous and understated.

There is no grandstanding in this film, no over-acting, no happy ending, no real resolution. Just two people who have become – and continue to become – destructively dependent on each other.

Of course, Sarah and her series of boyfriends are the villains of this piece but none of them are simplistic. All of the characters are well drawn – if extreme – examples of human frailty, stupidity, ignorance, laziness and – most of all - weakness. While the film makes no attempt to exonerate, or even explain, their actions it manages to avoid falling into the trap of demonising the characters, instead making it quite clear that these people are all too human.

Packed with cameos, including Peter Fonda, Winona Ryder and Marilyn Mason, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things is an unglamorous exploration of a part of North American culture that rarely makes it onto the big screen. The result is often brutal, but also an honest and engaging film.

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