My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To

Cuartas is an astonishing talent for horror connoisseurs who like their films classy and textured.

In this rusted nowhere, options are truly limited, and writer/director Jonathan Cuartas leaves their story open-ended at the beginning.

A grimly fascinating low-fi debut from writer/director Jonathan Cuartas.

This may be dark fodder for a family project, but the result is a visually striking meditation on obligation and complicity.

While "My Heart" could have used a more assertive ending than the director's screenplay comes up with, its sad, furtive characters still linger in the mind well after the blood they've spilt has dried.

It's an entire meditative, brooding feature that centers on the question of how far you would go in the name of family. Cuartas captures that in the form of personal sacrifice and ruination, in the most bittersweet and devastating way.

Shot in 20 days, with no special effects to speak off, and in rooms only murkily lit, it's atmospheric, spooky and intense. Plus, thanks to solid performances by Fugit, Schram and Campbell, it also works pretty well as a family drama.

It is definitely a yay for me. It's a hard one to market because it's a horror drama that's heavy on the drama. It's not the Transformers dancing that lots of audiences want, instead, it's closer to Issa López's Tigers Are Not Afraid.

My Heart Can’t Beat Uness You Tell It To isn’t your typical vampire movie, and its cast manages to bring to life the horrific elements of family drama alongside a different take on vampirism.

My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To has an overwhelming sense of grim melancholy and resignation, like a weighted blanket woven out of dashed hopes, resentful obligation, and innumerable regrets.