Oh, Satan, you nut, always with the making of deals with we silly mortals. And, for those who have considered such a deal, a word of warning - these things never work out for the sad sacks of flesh. The deck is stacked in favor of the Devil.
This is a lesson to be leaned by Jamie Morgan in the film Heartless, a modern version of the Faustian bargain. In Heartless, Jim Sturgess (21, Across the Universe) portrays Jamie, a young man who has lived with a birthmark covering part of his face, as well as his shoulder and torso, staining his skin red, the facial extension of the mark resembling a heart (Heartless, get it?). The marks have made Jamie an outcast, unable to be seen by others as attractive, and therefore, he sees his life as a long, lonely journey, made more so by the death of his father who provided much needed perspective on his appearance. The birthmark prevents Jamie from so much as attempting a conversation with a model, Tia (Clemence Poesy, 127 Hours), he encounters at his brother's photography studio, hiding his visage away in his oft-worn hoodie. Only his new neighbor, A.J. (Noel Clarke, Doctor Who), seems to be able to draw Jamie out of his self-imposed exile to the clubs of London.
In the background of his personal drama, Jamie sees signs of street violence in the city, roving gangs of young men terrorizing the citizenry. But Jamie notices something others appear to have missed - these hooded hooligans have reptilian, demonic faces and mouthfuls of needle-sharp teeth. When A.J. reveals a deal he's made that he's desperately trying to escape, and subsequently goes missing, Jamie is on alert. When the monstrous gang assaults Jamie and his mother, burning her alive with a Molotov cocktail as Jamie watches, he becomes obsessed with finding and killing the gang members responsible, demonic or not.It's during this time Jamie gets the call from a stranger, a man who calls himself Papa B (Joseph Mawle, Game of Thrones), inviting Jamie to a meeting. There, Jamie meets the lovely child Belle (Nikita Mistry), a child seemingly held against her will by the savage-looking Papa B. The shirtless Papa B proposes a simple deal - rid Jamie of his socially crippling birthmark in exchange for a few spray-painted heresies at Papa B's request. To Jamie, this is a no-brainer, and the deal is made.
Since we're dealing with a Satanic figure here, the deal isn't all it seems, revealed in a particularly winning scene with the Weapons Man (Eddie Marsan, The Disappearance of Alice Creed), where Jamie learns all too well the deceptive nature of evil. Couple this disillusionment with the reappearance of Tia, this time equally enamored of the new, birthmark-free Jamie, and you have quite the pickle for our hero.
Though these "deal with the devil" films are nothing new, and, in fact the story goes back at least to the Historia von D. Johann Fausten in 1587, but there's something timeless about a tale of man's dissatisfaction with his lot in life and the horrible results of trading one's soul, or even one's character, for something better. Sturgess' performance ranges from the touching to the manic, and he does good work here, showing us the horror of discovering that we are more capable of evil than we might suspect.
The greatest flaw in Heartless is one born of necessity. The old tale must be updated to keep an audience guessing, but in doing so, writer and director Philip Ridley (The Krays) complicates the tale with a twist that the story doesn't really need to be compelling. The performances are interesting, the story proven by history as satisfying, leaving Ridley with the urge to do something different, which doesn't quite work. Despite the muddled conclusion, the movie still satisfies, just as the Faust tale always has, and the shortcomings don't undermine some truly interesting work in the second act, namely the scene between Jamie and the Weapons Man. Available via Netflix's Watch Instantly service, this is definitely a watch for anyone who enjoys their horror a bit more cerebral and a lot more British.
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