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Heartbeats

Play trailer Poster for Heartbeats Released Feb 25, 2011 1h 37m Romance Comedy LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
74% Tomatometer 73 Reviews 71% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Francis (Xavier Dolan) is a young gay man, Marie (Monia Chokri) is a young straight woman and the two of them are best friends -- until the day the gorgeous Nicolas (Niels Schneider) walks into a Montreal coffee shop. The two friends, instantly and equally infatuated, compete for Nicolas' indeterminate affections, a conflict that climaxes when the trio visit the vacation home of Nicolas' mother. The frothy comedy unfolds through narrative, fantasy sequences and confessional monologues.

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Heartbeats

Heartbeats

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Critics Consensus

An art film to the max, Heartbeats intriguing and appealing premise is sometimes buried by director Xavier Dolan's filmmaking flourishes.

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Critics Reviews

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Deborah Ross The Spectator So it doesn't cut it as a tale of erotic desperation, but stylistically? Tediously pretentious, padded out as it is with slo-mo sequences that are neither moody nor relevant and young people delivering overwritten speeches about love. Aug 31, 2018 Full Review Philip French Guardian It's likeable enough, though there's far too much slow motion. May 28, 2011 Full Review Anthony Quinn Independent (UK) A subtle and painfully amusing battle of wills. Rated: 4/5 May 27, 2011 Full Review Michael Leader Den of Geek It also the viewer a powerful image of its central pair, twisted and hopelessly attached to each other, finishing the film ready to embark on another self-destructive, obsessive fling. Rated: 4/5 May 7, 2024 Full Review David Lamble Bay Area Reporter If you missed Quebec queer-boy auteur Xavier Dolan's first feature I Killed My Mother, don't pass on his Cannes-heralded follow-up... Jun 8, 2020 Full Review Mattie Lucas From the Front Row A devastating exploration of the complexities and absurdities of love. Rated: 2.5/4 Aug 5, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (302) audience reviews
Audience Member An absolute must see - so fresh it wants to make you live your own romance in Montreal. The city is fabulous. Direction is impressive, especially for a second movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member A younger Xavier Dolan was defining his syle with this visually stunning not-so-love story in where Monia Chokri steals the show. An art film that doesn't really takes itself seriously sometimes but that is made with passion and enough love to be enjoyable. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member I loved the different scenarios where scenes were taken. It makes you think about how love makes you being in many different places at the same time. As a fan of classical arts I really felt like I was feeling the character's emotions. Also the soundtrack is beautiful. I listen it every now and the. Definetly one of my fav movies. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Really fun to watch and very relatable specially for LGBTQ+ youth. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member (3.5/4 Stars) I'm not going to lie, this is one of my favorites. For various reasons, this film strongly resonates with me. I enjoy the looks of the characters, the way they talk, their mannerisms, and especially their style. There's this millennial liveliness that they seem to project that I personally love to get absorbed into. I discovered Dolan through the attention he received at Cannes with his film Mommy. After seeing Mommy, I sought out his other works which of course eventually led me to this. For me, I think this film centers around young love and how it can sometimes simply be ridiculous. Sometimes, the reasoning for their attraction towards others is less about legitimate love and more about lust. That's a folly for many. There's much slow motion in this as well. I could see some complaining about it, but I find it appealing to the eye. Witnessing the film's slow motion reminds me of the feeling of finding a beautiful person in a crowded room. When that happens in real life, time can seem to slow down as you become entranced by the person you see. It's like that feeling. In those slow moments, the movie is taking time to focus on those flourishing emotions felt by the characters. In fact, that's what I found the film as a whole to focus around. The feelings of love, or at least what the characters think is love. I could also see some people complaining about the story being overdone and unoriginal, but I think Dolan breathes new life into it. He is doing what many other talented filmmakers are doing, especially in this current era of film. He's breathing new life into tired formulas. The story sounds simple, but he focuses on the characters and the feelings/emotions they go through which can be great if handled well. I find it easy to get absorbed into the three leads and to be interested in their lives. They have this exuberant style that is somewhat alluring and even hypnotic in a way. The only complaint I can think of at the moment would be some of the camerawork in a few scenes and I think some extra tweaks with the editing would helped some moments, but these are small quibbles in an overall attractive-looking film. I recommend this, especially to hipsters. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Xavier's second feature after his great debut "I Killed My Mother". This film is losely based on a Woody Allen film, at least so I have read, but I have not seen it. It's about three friends. Well, two friends, Marie and Francis that meet a guy called Nicolas. They are both madly in love with him, but afraid to ask him about his sexual oriantation. It's not really a theme here, the question of asking him, but the pain of being in a love triangle, being anoyd when your friend is getting attention in stead of you is a certain thing here. Not his best film, probably the opposite for me. It's lovely shot, acted out and I like the theme. The thing it's that it's not moving smooth enough, the development is not good enough. No true climaxes or moments, but that constant vibe of a mild uncernity about somones feelings for you is both unsettling and relatable for most of us. 6 our of 10 posters. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Heartbeats

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Francis (Xavier Dolan) is a young gay man, Marie (Monia Chokri) is a young straight woman and the two of them are best friends -- until the day the gorgeous Nicolas (Niels Schneider) walks into a Montreal coffee shop. The two friends, instantly and equally infatuated, compete for Nicolas' indeterminate affections, a conflict that climaxes when the trio visit the vacation home of Nicolas' mother. The frothy comedy unfolds through narrative, fantasy sequences and confessional monologues.
Director
Xavier Dolan
Producer
Xavier Dolan, Carole Mondello, Daniel Morin
Screenwriter
Xavier Dolan
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Quebec Film and Television Tax Credit, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)
Genre
Romance, Comedy, LGBTQ+
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 25, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 10, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$63.0K
Runtime
1h 37m
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