Independent films do not always receive as much fanfare as mainstream films. Some independent films are creative and intense. A recent independent film that displays this is “Heartless.”

Produced by IFC Films and directed by Philip Ridley, “Heartless” stars Jim Sturgess as Jamie Morgan, a London photographer with an unusual birthmark on the side of his face. The birthmark is in the shape of a heart.

Morgan falls in love and nearly loses his mind as he searches for vengeance.

Morgan witnesses the violent murder of his mother at the hands of a gang of ruthless lizard-masked beings named ‘She.’ One of the members of the gang named Papa B, played by Joseph Mawle, reaches out to Morgan and makes a deal with him to remove his scar. However, there is a catch. Papa B will only help Morgan if he commits a murder. This begins to unravel Morgan’s life.

The story then leads to Morgan fighting for his love for Tia played by Clemence Poesy, while facing difficult decisions along the way.

The strong point of this film is its psychological thriller-like style and roller coaster sense of intensity.

“Heartless” captures this with the violent and sometimes freaky nature as Morgan tries to take his revenge against creatures only he can see.

The film kept me on the edge of my seat for two reasons, first of which would be its psychological-thriller style. The second reason is its ability to pull at your heartstrings while having the ability to push thoughts psychologically.

The mood for most of the film keeps the audience guessing at every twist and turn. Even though it is a simple revenge tale, what happens during the film is what makes it unique.

Ridley knew how to use Sturgess’s star power and does it quite well in the film. Most of the actors are mainly unknown, except for Sturgess who starred in “21” in 2008 and “Across The Universe” in 2007.

Although I have nothing to compare the other actors to in previous films, I thought they did a good job conveying emotions of their roles in the film.

Overall, “Heartless” does the job well of conveying the dark side of London as well as bringing out the darkness in each of the characters. This psychological thriller is definitely worth picking up.

Jose Gonzalez can be reached at 581-2812 or

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