Critics Voice
Award-winning home-grown Psychological Thriller Bloodshot Heart to stream free on SBS
Award-winning home-grown Psychological Thriller Bloodshot Heart to stream free across Australia on SBS on Demand from Dec 23, 2022.
Bloodshot Heart, the debut feature of 2018 AFTRS graduate Parish Malfitano, to stream free on SBS on Demand from Friday December 23, 2022. Winner of the Silver Remi Award for First Feature at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival and nominated for Best Fiction Feature Film at the Australia-wide ATOM Awards, this imaginative and provocative arthouse thriller takes the audience on a journey into obsession, memory and delusion.
Synopsis
In a world where the difference between reality and fantasy can be hard to discern, Hans, a middle-aged driving instructor, attempts to shake off the manipulative grasp of his Italian mother and pursue a younger woman, Matilda, a musician renting a room in their apartment. As jealousy and infatuation spill over into psychosis, Hans hatches a violent plan to win the heart of Matilda and free himself from his mother’s clutches forever.
Bloodshot Heart features a bold performance by Richard James Allen as Hans, selected was a Finalist for Lead Performance at the Nightmares Film Festival in Columbus, Ohio. The film also includes a critically acclaimed return to the big screen by much-loved actor Dina Panozzo (Packed to the Rafters, A Place to Call Home) as Hans’ mother, as well as a striking debut by Emily David as Matilda.
Critical Praise
Bloodshot Heart is a “rich experience” (Adrian Martin, ScreenHub),
“a psychedelic, sensory delight” (Paul Kelman, Filmink),
“a twisted psychodrama” (Bill Mousoulis, Pure Shit: Australian Cinema),
an “intriguing, edgy and compelling work” (Andrew L. Urban, Verity La),
a “gritty but fun celebration of film, made with obvious love and passion for the craft” (Laura Pohlenz, Filmink).
“An outstanding debut independent feature” (Jay Katz, Naked World) by AFTRS graduate Parish Malfitano.
“Not to be missed” (Reviews by Judith and Friends).
This tragically beautiful tale of mental anguish and repressed trauma” stars Richard James Allen in “a spectacular performance [that] captures all the little moments of someone who has suffered a traumatic event in his life and how his way of processing the events are doing more harm than good” (Dave Garrett Sarrafian, into:screens).
“Richard James Allen‘s portrayal of Hans is something you must experience. His lovesick puppy act masks all the mysterious and deeply troubling emotions inside his head. The nuance he brings to Hans is astounding.” (Liz Whittemore, Reel News Daily).
Bloodshot Heart is a psychedelic, sensory delight and could be the next Aussie cult film classic,” Paul Kelman (Filmink).
Lead actor/producer Richard James Allen says, “It a film, like Picnic at Hanging Rock, which deliberately embraces a hybrid of European Art Cinema and Independent Film, woven together with a range of genre aesthetics. It is so richly produced in its visual and aural textures that it is literally a siren call back into the cinematic experience (Filmink)”.
Italian Australian writer-director Parish Malfitano, who was also a ‘Finalist, Writing in a Feature, at the Nightmares Film festival in Columbus, Ohio’, comments, “I like to think of Bloodshot Heart as the drunken Australian step-cousin of American and European cinema. A fan of the high art and B-grade films of the ‘70s, I drew on multiple influences as a way of establishing a stylised landscape and creating an overarching thought bubble of our changing perspectives. I am thrilled that audiences across Australia who may not have caught it in cinemas will now have this opportunity to experience this film at home.”
Download Trailers, Photographs, EPK, Poster here.
For further information:
Publicity Department, The Physical TV Company
M: +61 402 630 325 E: physicaltv@gmail.com