Deep in the Heart (2014) (2024)

Popular reviews

• Review by Sean Gilman ★★★★ 3

  SIFF 2015

  This first film from Chinese writer-director Xin Yukon presents an impressive and quite funny narrative tangle that builds slowly through three interconnected stories, sparked by a death in the woods. A young couple on the run, an older couple cheating on their spouses, and the village mayor all think the corpse is their responsibility and act accordingly to cover it up or avoid being discovered, with cosmically inky results.

  Before settling down in the later sections, the opening third is shot in what has seemingly become the new international style. In recent years it seems we’ve moved away from the “Asian Minimalist” style of long shots and long takes to a more flowing style. Handheld cameras wandering freely…

• Review by Raj_Mohan ★★★½

  Non-linear storyline that is happening around that dead body.
  Very good film. Worth a watch.

  Note: Focus on the subtitle to understand everything

  ⭐3.75/5

• Review by Dhoolpet Doolraj ★★★★ 2

  An Intriguing Blend Of Crime, Mystery & Dark Comedy,That Plays With Dichotomies In Interesting Ways, And Keeps You In The Dark Up Until The Very Last Moment
  

• Review by Willy

  a whole lotta accidential death going on in this lil village!

  early chinese countryside noir i guess. did a touch of sin kickstart these or was it something prior? cuz i think indie grade ones like this only started coming out from around then.

  it's basically a black comedy as usual, tho that won't be apparent for a minute while watching. what it opens with is pretty damn sensitive stuff, dude accidentially knocking up his gf & then planning to escape the village after accidentially (lots of accidents) killing the mfer tryna blackmail them over it! i wont spoil from there but shit gets pretty complicated and hilarious lmao. it's so ambitious it's endearing.

  theres one moment that had me goin…

• Review by Xascoria ★★★★

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  The way the film conveys information is great, with both clever writing and also great directing. However, some of it is too redundant and drives too much emphasis on what we already knew

  Cinematography is pretty flat at times but overall pretty good.

  Also it's pretty clear that the director doesn't want this confession ending, but because of China's censorship laws on how every bad guys has to be caught so he just put like 2 seconds of exposition at the end, which is just a big middle finger to the rule, that part alone 10/10

• Review by Shashank🎧 ★★★½

  I loved Yukun Xin‘s Wrath of silence , as I watched it before checking his debut flick, he didn’t disappoint me with this one. Solid script, non linear narration , good performances made this one a very good watch. Being a debut flick , Yukun Xin did a commendable job with non linear narration, as it is not easy to unravel complex relations layer by layer yet he succeeded. There is a drag in the first act , but when movie steps into the 2nd act, we understand the importance as it connects other events. That pre climax shot of the coffin in the mountain along with three main characters is indeed a good touch by Yukun Xin.

• Review by Nick Goathoof ★★★½

  A respectable debut effort. I think he almost nails the ending but instead loses it in the last moment with what seems like an unnecessary add-on. I think the best thing about this story is the intimacy of its setting: small village with intriguing goings-on. It looks like Yukun has done a couple more entwined narratives since this came out. I imagine he'll only get better at weaving threads like this, so I'm interested in his later output.

• Review by jay sun ★★★★

  Well-crafted script. The structure of the film is sturdy, the story itself is ravishing as the mystery untied. Unadorned performance delivered by several protagonists.

• Review by Barathan303 ★★★★★

  Definition of how a perfect screenplay should be!!!

• Review by roy ★★★★

  A bit slow at the start but once it picks up the pace and the three storylines begin to intertwine, the film actually becomes surprisingly funny.

  My friend (who’s really into thrillers) recommended this movie to me so I prepared myself for a grim murder mystery thriller film. Halfway throughout the film it turned out to be something completely different.

  By intertwining three different storylines –that all share a connection with one charred corpse– in a non linear way combined with information gaps, the story becomes a comedic, exciting and dizzying hunt for the truth behind the unrecognizable body. Once you find out who the corpse belongs to, a lot starts to make sense, but when all the loose ends…

• Review by Aditya Kumar Dekkala ★★★★

  Wow!!
  A funny narrative tangle based on an unsettling backdrop

• Review by lilycup ★★★★

  Would you rather have a stupid son or thot daughter