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Review

Its title taken from the book of Jeremiah, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things concerns the epic battle of a young boy named Jeremiah and his mother, Sarah (Asia Argento, actress and director, the daughter of Italian horror auteur, Dario). Adapted by Argento and Allesandro Magania from J.T. Leroy's controversial collection of short stories, it illustrates a life of child abuse endured by Jeremiah (first played by Jimmy Bennet and then by twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse). It is gross, terrifying and oddly absorbing all at once. Asia’s style of film-making thrusts the viewer headlong into the picture, as another bewildered victim. Regaining custody of her young son after some time in foster care, Sarah subjects Jeremiah to a life where he must witness her drug use and prostitution. She marries and her husband comes back from their honeymoon only to sodomize poor Jeremiah. Eventually, he begins experimenting with his own gender-bending by dressing up like mother and playfully seducing one of her lovers, Jackson (Marilyn Manson in a cameo). Earlier, he is given to his grandfather, (Peter Fonda) a strict leader of a Christian cult group. Strange events are played out over time, with Argento commanding the bulk of the viewer’s attention with her realistic portrayal of a mother from hell. Careening from serious to almost high camp, The Heart... acquires a cult-like sheen all its own.

 -- Max Brinck