The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
6.241%70%5.8
The dysfunctional twenty-three-year-old Sarah takes her six-year-old natural son Jeremiah from the home of his beloved foster parents with the support of the social service to live with her. Along the years, the boy shares her insane and low lifestyle and is introduced to booze and drugs and mentally, physically and sexually abused by Sarah, her lovers and her religiously fanatic family.
Michael Heimgartner reviewedSeptember 14, 2025
Childhood Torn Apart
I went into The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things without knowing much, and came out deeply affected. This is one of those raw, emotionally brutal indie films that leave a mark, whether you want it to or not. Based on JT LeRoy’s (or rather Laura Albert’s) controversial novel, the film paints a deeply unsettling portrait of a boy thrown into chaos and abuse, and it does so with shocking honesty and visual grit.
Asia Argento directs and stars, and what she assembled here in terms of cast is surprising. Aside from herself, we see performances by Peter Fonda, Jeremy Renner, Ben Foster, Michael Pitt, Kip Pardue and Marilyn Manson in unexpected roles. Still, it’s young Jimmy Bennett who truly carries the film. His performance is nothing short of remarkable. Vulnerable, raw and heartbreakingly authentic, he plays Jeremiah with such emotional depth that it’s impossible not to feel deeply unsettled by what unfolds. That level of emotional commitment from a child actor is rare. It hurts to watch, and it should.
The film breathes white trash Americana – motel rooms, truck stops, dingy diners – but never feels stylized. It feels lived in. Real. Every bit of pain, neglect, and desperation comes through. You watch as Jeremiah becomes collateral damage in a world ruled by addiction, selfishness, and generational trauma. Whether it’s emotional abandonment or physical abuse, the film doesn’t look away, and neither can we.
The central relationship between Jeremiah and his mother is both the heart and the wound of the film. Asia Argento walks a fine line here. The film often feels like it’s questioning itself – is this exploitation, or is it a desperate plea for empathy? Maybe it’s both. There are scenes here that are hard to sit through. And yet, they never feel gratuitous – more like the honest horror of a child’s reality.
Watching this today, it’s impossible not to be aware of the later controversy between Jimmy Bennett and Asia Argento. I won’t go into details or speculate, but knowing what surfaced years later adds an undeniably complex, uneasy layer to the viewing experience. It makes you think about the fine line between art and reality, and about the emotional costs for everyone involved in telling stories this raw.
If you’re looking for a feel-good drama, stay far away. But if you want something that grabs you by the throat and makes you feel something real, even if it’s painful, this is worth your time.
It’s a film that doesn’t offer comfort or easy redemption. Just a scream into the void of a childhood lost – and the quiet question of what could have been.