by JENNIFER MERIN
Jessica Biel (right) and Zosia Mamet star in “Bleeding Heart.” PHOTO/Gravitas Ventures
-“Bleeding Heart,” which opens today, is a tension-filled drama about the relationship between half-sisters who, now in their 20s, find each other after having been raised by different parents and in entirely different circumstances. They have a lot to learn from each other and through each other. Jessica Biel plays Meg, a yoga instructor who searches for her sister Shiva (Zosia Mamet), and finding her, discovers that she’s a sex worker. In trying to free Shiva from her abusive pimp, Meg risks her own safety, as well as her relationships with her adoptive mother, her live-in boyfriend and business partner. It would be easier to back down, but Meg stands her ground in protecting Shiva who needs her — sister or not. “Bleeding Heart” raises women’s relationship questions that aren’t at all easy to answer, and it’s profoundly provocative because it resists the preaching of resolutions. In her second feature film, writer/director Diane Bell delivers a gripping character-driven femme-centric thriller that’s enhanced by terrific performances by the entire cast and superb cinematic qualities. See this film and keep your eyes open for future Bell projects
“The Girl in the Book,” writer/director Marya Cohn’s first feature, is a telling tale of child abuse and its impact. When Alice (Emily VanCamp) was an aspiring and talented young writer in high school, she was sexually preyed upon by author Milan Daneker (Michael Nyqvist), who further exploited her by using the indecent incident as fodder for his bestselling novel. Fifteen years later, an anguished Alice is still struggling to overcome her humiliation. She’s looking for love in one night stands and has succumbed to permanent writer’s block. Her unsatisfying job as an underling editor at a New York publishing house goes from meaningless to worse when she’s assigned to work on her former molester’s new book. You might say that the setup is a bit contrived, but the performances are strong and convincing, and the plot leads to a satisfying dramatic denouement of personal transformation.
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