An early scene in HEART BREAKS OPEN shows Jesus, the film’s protagonist, seated on a park bench—dejected—while the following words float through his soliloquy: “What is the rhythm of prayer in the wake of a virus? Dear God; Dear Quan Yin; Dear Saint Jude; Dear anyone who will listen: turn back the wheel of time. Why did I want him inside of me — sacred fluids entwined like a covenant? Now my body [is] occupied by an invading army — soldiers hide in my marrow; blood waits to rebel. Consider this: I am dying. Tell me the truth: there is no redemption. Dear anyone—dear anyone who will listen — save me. Light this dark world.” This is one excerpt out of multiple demonstrating the film’s undeniable emotional content. It is difficult to miss the notable grittiness in HEART BREAKS OPEN as it is saturated with sentiments of guilt and anxiety, regret and incapacitation, and the grappling pursuit to find the strength to overcome it all. 

 

Nuanced within the film’s structure is a deviance from a traditional three-act fiction film; instead, following of Christian ‘Stations of the Cross.' Jesus’ burden to bear is his knowledge of being HIV-positive — a cross that looms in the air of his forthcoming days of living. He meets the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence instead of the Daughters of Jerusalem, who guide Jesus away from potentially imploding on his self-destructive behavior and towards self-discovery. And the means by which the film demonstrates this path to self-discovery is irrefutable in its authenticity. From scenes of Jesus’ initial learning of his HIV-positive state to an anxiety-ridden frustration during a conversation with a HIV-positive support counselor, the tensions of rigorous emotional reality expends from the film to the audience as Jesus continues to manage himself in the impending reality of his fate. 

 

HEART BREAKS OPEN is a triumph for the LGBT community as it combines prevailing elements of responsibility, intervention, accountability and heartbreak with an underlying but indubitable message of love.