Underplayed Gems

The Heart Is a Muscle (2025)

The Heart Is a Muscle poster
Country
Saudi Arabia, South Africa
Rated
15
Rating
5.5 of 10 from 2 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A young father in South Africa tries to change himself and break a cycle of harm passed down through his family. The film follows his difficult search for a better way to live.

tenseemotionalintrospectiverawgrittymelancholicslow-burnvisceral

What happens

The Heart Is a Muscle is a 2025 South African crime thriller film written, co-produced and directed by Imran Hamdulay, in his directorial debut. It follows a young father's search for a better version of himself, and of masculinity, trans-generational trauma and healing. The film had its world premiere at the Panorama section of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on 17 February 2024, where it won the Ecumenical Jury Prize. It was selected as the South African entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.