Forbidden love comes in a variety of flavors in film. However, in the feature, “The Violent Heart,” there is more than one reason why the two lovers at the center of the film are being driven apart.
As seen in the trailer for the film, “The Violent Heart” features the story of a high school senior that falls in love with an older man that is seen as a problem by the folks in their town. In the list of reasons why people probably don’t see them as a match, there’s the obvious age difference with the girl being 18-years-old and in high school while the boy is 24-years-old and trying to turn his life around. But perhaps the biggest reason why folks think these two shouldn’t be together is because the man witnessed the death of his sister 15 years prior, and he even went to jail for injuring a classmate in school. Needless to say, he has issues.
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So, while there are echoes of “Romeo & Juliet” at play with the star-crossed lovers being forced apart by family pressure, there are some very real reasons why maybe this relationship shouldn’t be a thing. But hey, maybe the movie does a great job of showing why this is true love and we’re all just assholes for not seeing it?
The cast of the film includes Grace Van Patten, Jovan Adepo, Lukas Haas, Mary J. Blige, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Jahi Di’Allo Winston. “The Violent Heart” is written and directed by Kerem Sanga. The filmmaker is probably best known for his films “The First Girl I Loved” and “The Young Kieslowski.”
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“The Violent Heart” arrives in select theaters and VOD on February 19. You can watch the trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
Fifteen years after the murder of his older sister, taciturn Daniel finds himself falling for Cassie, a vivacious high school senior in this southern gothic-inspired Romeo & Juliet story set in the American heartland.