Haunted Heart Review – Thought-Provoking, Heightened Suspense, Resonating

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Category: Indies, Docs, Foreign Film

Published on Wednesday, 02 October 2024 10:02

Written by Janet Walker

Haunted Heart, from Vantage Media, presents a story of romance, drama, hidden secrets, a buried past, and a love triangle, as a beautiful French traveler takes a server position on a Greek island, only accessible by boat.

The film begins with Alex, played by Aida Folch, on her way to the island, and as she is ferried by Chico, played by Juan Pablo Urrego, she explains she is afraid of the water and never learned to swim. The restaurant owner, Max, played by Matt Dillion, explains as Alex arrives a week later than what was supposed to be her start date, that the job has been filled.

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We begin to understand her immediately, she is not one to take no for an answer and launches into her story of why she didn't arrive until today, and even as Max is trying to explain he has a solution, she just refuses to even listen. Finally, when she has told her story and exhausted Max, and certainly left an impression on the audience, he offers her a server position.

We can see immediately Alex is attempting to seduce Max. Despite her femme-fatale charm quickly winning the heart of the charismatic Chico, she instead falls for the enigmatic restaurant manager.

As the story revolves around Max, played by Matt Dillon, a reclusive American, who settled on the island decades ago, we understand people leave lives for reasons, and his past life is buried. He falls for Alex and soon the two are a couple. He, of course, is older, and not into the management of every emotional outburst.

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On the other hand, she believes controlling him through her outbursts is the key to their existence. Her character appears to have manic moments, the intensity of her outbursts appears to be her controlling mechanism, she gets angry, threatens to leave, and he cajoles her and then all is well until the next cycle begins. Some people don't feel alive without drama, and this character Alex, is all about drama. There were moments when her mania was too much.

And Alex is very intrusive. She wants to know everything, and more than simply having him tell her as young love often wants to know all the secrets. She snoops, and believes it is her right to resurrect his past life. But a buried past is just that buried, and for a good reason.

Of course, as there is another love interest, closer to her age, she uses him to bait Max. And during Act 2, in the middle of the film, it is unclear if she and Chico, have hatched a scam, and are planning something sinister.

As the seasons pass, sexual tensions rise, and tourists come and go, Chico begins to unearth disturbing clues about Max's dark and mysterious past, to lure Alex away. Blinded by her feelings, Alex chooses to ignore his warnings, as the story slowly slides into a harrowing tale of survival.

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The intrigue continues to build as she finally gets what she has wanted, Max all to herself. No other outside interests, not even friends, and she then must reciprocate but she is not as quick to let go of her second option.

She began this hunt into Max's past, first by snooping, then by intentionally searching through his possessions and finding traces of a past long buried. And she pulled Chico into it, and now, he has returned with the most damaging information. The Max they know, a restaurant owner on a small Greek Island, had to flee California, as he was wanted in the connection of a murder.

The shocking headlines, tell a story of a virtuoso and a murder, the rare talent that is equally innate and trained, a jazz prodigy. One night, as fame often opens doors to the wilder side of life, some are able to withstand the temptations other not so much, and we find he was not. He was the suspect in the murder of his wife.

As Chico is planning on showing Alex the newspaper clippings, Max boards his boat, and in an instant the only solution that seemed possible to stop the ghosts of the past from catching him, was to ensure they stayed silent. This sets up the film's explosive finale.

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Haunted Heart, a provocative and intriguing film, folds into the plot elements of film noir. The performances are resonating. Each of the character's play the opposite side of mania; he is methodical, and she is manic. And oddly as the film progresses and danger closes in, we find she is not a sympathetic character. Directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Fernando Trueba, Haunted Heart is thought-provoking as much for the dynamics of the relationships as the plot twists and turns.

With heightened suspense, Haunted Heart can be seen in theaters (check local listings), and on Demand. See it.

Country: Greece.

Language: English.

Runtime: 128 minutes.

Director: Fernando Trueba.

Producer: Dago Garcia, Cristina Huete, Fernando Trueba.

Writer:  Rylend Grant, Fernando Trueba.

Cast: Matt Dillon, Aida Folch, Juan Pablo Urrego, Kika Georgiou, Polydoros Vogiatzis, Anthi Andreopoulou, Vassilis Halakatevakis, Marina Argyropoulou, Kostas Antalopoulos, Yannis Agridopoulos, Christos Alpidis, Thanassis Dessylas, Paraskevi Karava, Nikos Kyritsis.