The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)
AKA: –
Directed by: Asia Argento
Starring: Asia Argento (Sarah), Jimmy Bennett (Young Jeremiah), Dylan and Cole Sprouse (Older Jeremiah), Peter Fonda (Grandfather), Ornella Muti (Grandmother), Jeremy Renner (Emerson), Michael Pitt (Buddy), Ben Foster (Fleshy Boy), Winona Ryder (Psychologist)
Country: USA, Effed Up American Movies
Language: English (Optional Eng Subs)
Runtime: 01:37:42
Genres: Childhood, Domestic Abuse, Old-Young, Religion, Prostitution, Drugs, CrossDressing, Misery-Depressing
Plot – Spoilers:
Jeremiah is plucked out of foster-care by his crackwhore mother Sarah. Though initially resentful, Jeremiah is frightened into submission and dependence by Sarah, to the point where all that he can look forward to, is to please her. Along the way, he’s often left to the whims and fancies of Sarah’s string of lovers and her crazy family.
Sarah shares a complicated, abusive relationship with Jeremiah. Her own childhood that was ravaged by religious abuse ensures that she never really wants him back as a son. Rather as someone weaker and more vulnerable, to feel better in comparison, and to blame for everything that’s going wrong in her life. And when she hits the nadir of her drug-fueled downward spiral, Sarah’s determined to drag her boy down with her.
Directed by Asia Argento, who also plays Sarah with a Courtney Love look, the film was retrospectively controversial a few years back. This time, not for its content, but for the metoo claims by actor Jimmy Bennett (Jeremiah) who was 17 at the time of his alleged romp with Asia.
this movie is a relentlessly brutal truth. please post more like this
Damn that was bleak!
This one is a cold, hard slap in the face of reality, having known my fair share of Sarahs (or would it be Sarahi?) over the years. The really said thing is each one of them has spit out three or four Jeremiahs. Once again I gotta say “that mental illness thing can be a real mutha-fucker”.
Being that Sarahs have become commonplace, where do you think we have gone wrong as a society? My money is on social engineering… anyway… I digress.
Tthis is exactly what I love about this site – I have never heard of this movie before… and I’m asking myself how come I missed it. Was I not paying attention? (very likely) Bad marketing? No budget? Unapproved by the Hollywood mega-slugs because it isn’t another comic book remake? For whatever reason, there’s a whole shit-ton of great, thought-provoking films laying and waiting to be discovered.
And I applaud the fine folks at EUM for bringing them out of the darkness of obscurity.
forgot to add depressing in the tags
I can’t stand the movies where there are children who suffer!
Thanks so much for posting this. I tried to watch it last year, in some other language, but couldn’t get through the whole movie. Glad I got to see the whole shit show; quite an impact.
Anyone else think that the main character looks exactly like chole/dylan sprouse?
For those of you who might not have heard of Ornella Muti (grandmother) do a google to see her as a young actress. Voted most beautiful woman in the world in 1994.
Interesting to see her in a less than beautiful role…
As for the movie itself, people like Sarah should be prevented from having kids – by fair means or foul.
One of the boyfriends was Marilyn Manson, doesn’t surprise me he was in a movie like this.
I hate it when I get seduced by an 8 year old boy in drag
Hey admin,
100 bitcoin sent to your account
because this is the twisted shit !
manson coma white
A pill to make you numb
A pill to make you dumb
A pill to make you anybody else
But all the drugs in this world
Won’t save her from herself
I wonder if the other Avengers knew what Hawkeye was doing before he joined their club.
Dam….. Bloody good film…. Gripping…. Horrible…. Just the thing for a Sunday morning.
Is Asia Argento in any way related to Dario Argento? He is the maker of many 70s and 80s horror films.
Abuse: the movie
What’s with the Sprouse twins dressing in drag? There was the beauty pageant episode of Zack and Cody and then there’s this movie.
Sarah kinda looks like young Uma Thurman hmm…
That aside…Poor kid, stuck in such a life cycle… it’s hard to wake up and break free from a lifetime of mental abuse & religious indoctrination.
I always wondered how Asia Argentos whole childhood was influenced by the work of her Daddy Dario.
Creepy but true: Her first roles as an actress were always directed by her Daddy and most of her early performances (or at least those which were written for her by Daddy Dario) included rape and sex scenes. Isn´t it messed up to think that her dad was behind the camera while she had to get nude in front of him. If it was only one scene in one movie i would have thought…okay that must have been an one and only awkward experience. Let´s forget about it. But NO!
Everytime she did an acting gig for directing daddy Dario she had to strip naked.
This old italian pervert! That can´t be a coincidence.
Oh look, it’s that rapist whore as the main actress and they even got a cameo by another rapist piece of shit. Hollyweird: the movie
the movie is good (the book is better tho) but it’s almost unbearable because of asia argento! her acting gives me the same nice vibes of puking after a fish dinner. she’s not a bad director but she’s definitely a shitty actress and an even shittier person
Brutal
Imagine if it were the father doing this instead of the mother. Oh, the RAGE that would take over these comments…
It’s the mother, though. So, it’s okay. I mean, it doesn’t matter WHAT a woman does, doesn’t matter if she knows exactly what she’s doing, it’s just a woman, right? I mean, what are you gonna do?
poor child 🙁
very moving film, loved it… poor kid was getting shit on from every angle, especially the crazy ass mother…but see who he ends up with in the end. We have been raising our fourteen y/o grandkid since he was three. not so much as a phone call from the jailhouse dad or the crackhead whore mother all this time, but “if they ever are able to get a place” that’s where he wants to be…the grass is greener and the blood is thicker. guess he has to find out for himself what those two are all about. good luck…poor kid
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Don’t give a shit what anyone says,ive always wanted to mount Asia
OK, this is a dark little slice of bleakness. Acted well but Asia Argento just pisses me off. Has done in every film I have seen with her in, so my scoring is bias. 3/5 pieces of coal
Holy shit at the celebrities In this truly fucked up movie. Glad I watched. Thanks admins!
Argento killed Bourdain…SLOT
Reminds me of my mom, I’m glad I had a good dad