A Bluebird in My Heart - A Review
The folks that curate at Shudder are absolute geniuses, whether on purpose or on complete accident. Their release schedule post October included two non-horror movies, first there was Re:Born a straight up action movie (check out our review HERE), that is sneakily a ghost story. And now another recent release, A Bluebird in my Heart, which is a straight up crime drama, that is also sneakily a rape-revenge story. The genius of the Shudder curators is two-fold, first they offer up non-horror movies to help with that October hangover and second, if you squint and turn your head a bit these non-horror movies are very similar to standard horror movies.
The film follows Danny (Roland Moller) an ex-con trying to start a new life post incarceration. He moves into a motel owned and managed by a single mother (Lubna Azabal) and her teen daughter Clara (Lol Le Lann). Just as Danny is trying to rebuild his life after prison, Clara is trying to manage hers after her father was put in jail and looks to Danny as a bit of a surrogate father figure. The film is based on a book called The Dishwasher which makes sense because a majority of the film focuses on Danny getting a job as a dishwasher at a local Chinese food restaurant.
The film is light on dialogue and most of the storytelling is done visually. We don't need a lengthy monologue from Danny explaining how he is a good guy, we see him, we see where his heart is through his actions. At the restaurant he has to hand wash the dishes because the machine breaks, we see him tirelessly working to fix the machine, clean and organize his work-space. He’s not a degenerate criminal, he’s a man who probably made mistakes. Kudos to the filmmaker for leaning on the visuals and extra kudos for never explaining his crimes.
Now you might be thinking; What the heck is this? An emotional drama about a reformed criminal playing father to a young girl? No. It’s a rape-revenge film just like many horror films on Shudder, this one is just different. One night Clara hears some bad news about her imprisoned father and what do teens do best when met with challenges? Make bad choices. Her bad choice is getting a little too high with her shady boyfriend who rapes her and drops her on the side of the road. Danny comes to her rescue and in a very weird shower scene, cleans her up to hide the whole ordeal from her mother. A few days later, Danny sees the scumbag eating at the Chinese restaurant where he works and proceeds to beat him to death with his bare hands. The violence is just off camera but it’s brutal. Much like the rest of the film, it relies on strong cinematography as the attack is one singular shot with the only audio being fists and knees mashing into flesh. It’s truly fantastic.
There is a bit more gore in this one, a few scenes that aren't for the squeamish including Danny picking teeth out of his knuckles and later when he jams his thumbs into a guy’s eyes during the bloody, violent climax of the film. The action, much like the dialogue, is sparse but when it happens it’s important and makes an impact. A Bluebird in my Heart is an absolutely beautiful film with an ending that might even bring a tear to your eye. A welcomed addition to the Shudder library that, while it’s not strictly a horror film, it certainly does have some familiar elements.
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