My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To is a powerful and unique vampire tale [Tribeca review]

The feature debut from writer-director Jonathan Cuartas, My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To is a powerful and intimate horror film about a family trying to manage a dark and dangerous secret.

Dwight (Patrick Fugit, Almost Famous) spends his nights looking for vulnerable members of society that won’t be missed. Driving through the seedy parts of town, he tries to lure people back to his home so he can provide their blood for his younger brother Thomas (Owen Campbell, Super Dark Times), who needs to feed on human blood in order to survive. Completely sheltered from the outside world, Thomas lives with Dwight and their sister Jessie (Ingrid Sophie Schram, Phantom Thread), who helps push Dwight on to continuously find new victims to keep Owen well.

A heartbreaking family drama set against a unique vampire tale, My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To is a gut-wrenching look at the bonds of family, and how far we are willing to go to protect those we love. Patrick Fugit — nearly unrecognizable under his burly beard as the wide-eyed teen journalist in Almost Famous — seemingly carries the weight of the world as Dwight, who has to continuously kill in order to protect his younger brother. It’s a powerhouse performance, matched by Owen Campbell’s haunting turn as a sickly vampire, and Ingrid Sophie Schram as the stressed-out sister trying to keep her strange family unit intact.

An emotional and moving feature debut from Jonathan Cuartas, My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To is one of the most powerful and devastating horror films of the year.

My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To screened as part of the 2021 Tribeca film festival. The film arrives in select theatres and VOD on June 25.