The Violent Heart

The Violent Heart
Official poster
Directed byKerem Sanga
Written byKerem Sanga
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRicardo Diaz
Edited byJoshua Raymond Lee
Music byJohn Swihart
Production
companies
Distributed byGravitas Ventures
Release dates
  • September 9, 2020 (2020-09-09) (Deauville)
  • February 19, 2021 (2021-02-19) (United States)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$23,614[1]

The Violent Heart is a 2020 American drama film written and directed by Kerem Sanga. It stars Jovan Adepo, Grace Van Patten, Lukas Haas, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Cress Williams, Jahi Di'Allo Winston, and Mary J. Blige. The film premiered at the Deauville Film Festival on September 9, 2020, and was released on February 19, 2021 by Gravitas Ventures.

Plot

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Fifteen years after the mysterious murder of his older sister Wendy, Daniel is striving to become a mechanical engineer for the Marines. He witnessed the murder of his sister, and so struggles to live a normal life with the memories he has. Daniel meets Cassie, a witty and loquacious young girl, who attends a local high school, when she has to stop by the auto shop for an oil change at her dad's request. Leaving the car behind, she asks Daniel to take her to the high school that his brother attends. Cassie tells Daniel about her father and speaks highly of him, but she discovers that her father is having an affair with a teacher at the school. Because of this, Cassie becomes estranged from her family and spends more time with Daniel, and the two begin to realise they have connections from the past.

Cast

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In addition, Jordan Preston Carter briefly appears as a young Daniel witnessing his sister's murder.

Production

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Kerem Sanga directed the film based on a screenplay he wrote, and brought on Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Ed McDonnell and Tobey Maguire to serve as producers under their 21 Laps Entertainment, 3311 Productions and Material Pictures banners, respectively.[2]

In December 2017, Grace Van Patten and Jovan Adepo were cast, and Mary J. Blige, Lukas Haas, Jahi Di'Allo Winston and Kimberly Williams-Paisley joined the cast in January 2019.[3] In February 2019, Cress Williams also joined the cast.[4]

Filming

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Principal photography began in February 2019 in Nashville.[5]

Release

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The Violent Heart had its world premiere at the Deauville Film Festival on September 9, 2020.[6][7] It was originally set to have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2020, however, the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8][9] In December 2020, Gravitas Ventures acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for a February 19, 2021 release.[10]

Reception

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The Violent Heart holds a 56% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 reviews, with an average of 5.6/10.[11] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 49 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]

References

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  1. ^ "The Violent Heart". The Numbers. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  2. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (December 6, 2017). "'Meyerowitz's Grace Van Patten & 'Fences' Jovan Adepo Set For 'The Violent Heart'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  3. ^ Galuppo, Mia (January 31, 2019). "Mary J. Blige, Lukas Haas Join Coming-of-Age Romance 'The Violent Heart' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  4. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (February 18, 2019). "'Black Lightning' Star Cress Williams Joins 'The Violent Heart' & 'Reckoning'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  5. ^ "The Violent Heart". Backstage.com. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  6. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (July 21, 2020). "'First Cow', 'Kajillionaire', 'Last Words' head to Deauville". Screen International. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  7. ^ "The Violent Heart". Deauville American Film Festival. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  8. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (March 3, 2020). "Tribeca Sets Feature Lineup Of Films For 2020 Fest". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  9. ^ "Tribeca Film Festival Postponed Amid Coronavirus Fears". The Hollywood Reporter. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  10. ^ N’Duka, Amanda (December 9, 2020). "Gravitas Ventures Acquires Tribeca Thriller 'The Violent Heart'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  11. ^ "The Violent Heart (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on 2021-02-22. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  12. ^ "The Violent Heart". Metacritic. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
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