In a world not so different from ours, hearts are objects. A woman decides to tear hers off following a series of disturbing events.
Like its title, With Love and a Major Organ unfolds in two stages.
The first part depicts a reality in which most people rely on esoteric apps and healing centers to manage their emotions. It feels like an episode of Black Mirror This way of living seems to be upon us.
The bubbly Anabel (excellent Anna Maguire) does not fit into this mold which could not contain her desire for expression and her spontaneity. We see her painting – with her body –, recording poems on cassette, dancing with an imaginary partner… she is a free spirit who does not succumb to the futility of her job as a virtual insurance broker – in the case where your cloud and its contents would disappear. Her colleague and best friend Casey (convincing Donna Benedicto) is her opposite, but the two like each other.
One day, Anabel falls in love with George (surprising Hamza Haq), whom she notices at the park where she takes her breaks. The feeling of the introverted man who lives with his overbearing mother (Veena Sood) is not reciprocated. Other dramatic events will upset the woman, although she is so optimistic, which will push her to tear out her heart and a lantern. George will inherit it and his outlook on life will completely change.
The artistic and somewhat disjointed approach of the first half then gives way to a more conventional story, but one that hits the target more. The change in perspective of the two protagonists and the effects on those around them highlight the small details that make up who we are. Anna Maguire and Hamza Haq deliver inspired performances that go beyond simple personality substitution: George’s new heart lights him up, while Anabel gradually fades away.
The first creation by Kim Albright, who studied architecture in Montreal, is refreshing more in its substance than in its form. We imagine that the most innovative ideas were already found in the play that Julia Lederer herself adapted for the cinema. With Love and a Major Organwhich received the best film prize awarded by the Canadian Film Fest, still demonstrates enough mastery to keep us on the lookout for the next projects of the Canadian, British and Filipino filmmaker.
Indoors
Check the movie schedule
Drama
With Love and a Major Organ
(V.F.: The object of my heart)
Kim Albright
With Anna Maguire and Hamza Haq, Donna Benedicto
1:31 a.m.