I was in this very small house and there was a bunch of family members there, a bunch of cousins and aunts and uncles, and I saw the tension in there that kind of overwhelmed all of us at the time because of decisions we had to make about my grandmother. My father is the youngest of ten siblings and my grandmother was in hospice in 2016. Jonathan Cuartas: It kind of came from an extreme with my family. Read on to find out what we talked about!ĭread Central: Jonathan, you wrote and directed My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To and it’s your first feature film.

The film premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival last week and this weekend it’s screening at the 2021 virtual Chattanooga Film Festival.ĭread Central was thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with director Jonathan Cuartas and star Owen Campbell about My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To, including Cuartas’ personal inspiration for the story, Campbell’s heartbreaking performance, and a lot more. Haunting performances from Fugit, Schram, and Campbell dominate My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To, one of the most powerful and moving horror movies I’ve seen this year. Thomas suffers from an unknown affliction and must ingest blood to survive, which requires Dwight and Jessie to do horrible things. Patrick Fugit ( Almost Famous, Wristcutters: A Love Story) gives an affecting performance as Dwight, a man who lives with his sister Jessie, played by Ingrid Sophie Schram ( Phantom Thread), and their younger, frail brother Thomas, played by Owen Campbell ( Super Dark Times). He wrote and directed My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You It To, which tells the emotional story of two siblings who have to go to murderous lengths to supply blood to their sickly brother in order to keep him alive.

Related Article: MY HEART CAN’T BEAT UNLESS YOU TELL IT TO Review – Killing the Family NameĬuartas is a director/editor/producer known for the short films The Horse and the Stag (2018) and Twelve Traditions (2015).

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