[Film Review] My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To (2021)

“I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

“He’s our brother.”

This exchange, about twenty minutes into Jonathan Cuartas’s feature debut, sums up the simple intensity of the dilemma siblings Dwight and Jessie face in My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To. Thomas is sick, and it’s not the kind of sickness they can leave in the care of a hospital; instead, it is the kind which requires human blood to keep him going.

Vampirism has been used (or seen) as a metaphor many times before, and in My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell it To, it clearly represents the strain a family goes through when one is chronically ill. It’s not the first time I have seen it used in this way: Jennifer Sheridan’s Rose was also the story of an illness being tended and contained, though there the relationship was between spouses, rather than siblings. And yes, containment is just as much an issue for this family: Thomas is deeply lonely, and wants to go out into the world to make friends.

The characters of the three siblings are sympathetically written; and yet interestingly, none of them show much sympathy for the feelings of the others. Dwight (Patrick Fugit, Almost Famous) and Thomas (Owen Campbell, Super Dark Times) both crave connections outside of the family and are both reaching the limit of what they can tolerate; but rather than showing Thomas any understanding, Dwight declares they have to carry on, conceding to their sister’s direction. Jessie (Ingrid Sophie Schram, Phantom Thread) is stoical – or is it cold? – to the core, behaving in a way that is both mother and leader to the brothers, though manipulative too as she sees fit. The family dynamic – full of need and distrust – is fascinating, and I’m inclined to wonder if I would have felt for all of them equally if I’d spent more time with them all; as it happens, Dwight is given a greater share of the screen time, and Fugit fills his role with subtle anguish.

Like many families in horror, from We Are What We Are to Hereditary, these three are definitely too tightly knit for comfort. Cinematographer Michael Cuartas (Jonathan’s brother) doesn’t give us any wide shots (until right at the end), reflecting the confined nature of their mutual dependency. A sense of an inevitable implosion is there right from the start; as though we are watching them all (especially Dwight) simply walking towards inescapable grief. There’s very little change in pace here, even in Andrew Rease Shaw’s score; though when Dwight sings the title song in his own powerful way, he’s telling us clearly how much he needs a change.

There is nothing glamorous, exciting or magical about the vampirism in My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To. It’s draining, on both Thomas, the frail subject, and those around him. They give all they can, and they have to continue, like it or not, or their unit will fall apart. This is a film about family sacrifice, and how sometimes our all isn’t enough.

I don’t mean to make the film sound miserable, though: it isn’t, any more than commitment, family love and duty are miserable. The love between the siblings is unarguable, and there is a palpable realism about the whole production which only serves to reinforce that. That realism is especially interesting: there are a couple of scenes when the outside of the house is visible, looking like any house on any street, and we have to wonder whether anyone we know is hiding a condition like Thomas’. It comes with no back story or exposition, so his could be the only case, or there could be legion.

The film received a Special Jury Mention at Tribeca Film Festival 2020, where it had its world premiere. Dark Sky Films will release the film in the US, and Lightbulb Film Distribution in the UK, both in late June 2021. It’s intriguing and mesmerising, and I will almost certainly watch it again soon.

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