Bleeding Heart is a 2015 drama film directed by Diane Bell, starring Jessica Biel, Zosia Mamet, Joe Anderson, and Edi Gathegi. The film follows a yoga-instructor named May (Biel) who tries to protect her prostitute sister, Shiva (Mamet), from her deadbeat boyfriend, Cody (Anderson).

Positives:

• Good performances by the main cast.
• Good story.
• Great moments

Negatives:

• Lacks tension
• Lacks exposition
• Cliche moments
• Ending anti-climatic

Plot: The film follows a yoga-instructor named May (Biel) who tries to protect her prostitute sister, Shiva (Mamet), from her deadbeat boyfriend, Cody (Anderson). The plot does manage to tell a deep story, allowing for development between the characters May and Shiva as the two grow a bond. Also, there is how Shiva’s presence effects May and Dex’s relationship. The film is hardly original with nothing really new, which is unfortunate due to how compelling the film is. (3 out of 5)

Characters:  The characters are a bit of a mixed bag.  True, May and Shiva are pretty likable characters, however, they aren’t really interesting ones.  May is a yoga instructor who is in business with her boyfriend, Dex. May (Biel) is a likable character and she has good reasons for her actions.  Initially there is good chemistry between the two.  However, as the film progresses that relationship is just chained to the back of a car and dragged extensively.  It’s surprising how fast the two characters fallout.  Dex is actually a pretty decent character and it’s messed up that May completely dumps Dex for Shiva and how Shiva is so self obsessed that she doesn’t even care that her presence is a problem. Shiva is a likable character also, she’s a woman in an unfortunate situation. The two have a good relationship, there are these good moments as well as awkward moments that make their relationship feel more authentic. The two have opposing personalities that actually compliment each other. In fact, Dex is terribly underutilized.  Shiva is a likable character but the whole ‘I’m a victim’ routine does drag with her.  Now, I do like the developing relationship between May and Shiva.  Cody is the biggest douchebag and a bad guy for the sake of being a bad guy. He’s very menacing, he’s tough, he’s a douchebag.  (3 out of 5)

Cast:  The film features good performances by the main and supporting cast which consist of Jessica Biel (May), Zosia Mamet (Shiva), Joe Anderson (Cody), Edi Gathegi (Dex), Kate Burton (Martha), and Michelle Brew (Ashtanga).  (3 out of 5)

Visuals:  The movie is shot pretty well with a good focus of characters. (3 out of 5)

Score:  The music isn’t really memorable but does work for the film. Thumbs up to Liam Howe.  (3 out of 5)

Writing: The film does go at a good pace fleshing out the characters and relationships although the script could’ve been tightened up a bit when it comes to the story to create more tension. The film does have undertones, addressing the issue of abuse. Bell does a great job of focusing on characters and focusing on these intense moments. The film does fail at fully establishing the relationship between May and Dex which unfortunately makes Dex one of those characters who isn’t interesting nor worth caring about. His character is wasted. The writing is pretty decent though the movie isn’t really memorable.  It’s telling a story that we’ve seen a hundred times without presenting anything new, though Diane Bell does a good enough job. (3 out of 5)

The Verdict: In the end, Bleeding Heart is a decent film. Though the film lacks tension and enough exposition on certain elements, the film does have great performances by its two lead characters as well as good undertones. Bleeding Heart gets 3 out of 5.