'The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things' (2005) – Asia Argento.

While a multitude of films deal with violence in a glib, unsophisticated way, all too few filmmakers have the courage to so brutally expose the unbearably sordid realities of child abuse and the inexorable downward spiral into spiritual, moral and physical degradation. In no way an easy watch, Asia Argento's excruciatingly unfiltered drama 'The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things' draws you remorselessly into, Jeremiah's (Jimmy Bennet) torturous childhood, never once flinching from exploring the more profane aspects of his addict mother's toxic hedonism and arbitrary cruelty. 

Shorn of sentimentality, the devastating impact of, Asia's brutalist drama is a credit to the bravura performances of her fearless cast. Exposing depths hitherto unseen, the visceral, disturbingly realistic portrayal of an abusive degenerate mother by a hot-wired, Asia Argento frequently provides some profoundly unsettling sequences. Like any exemplary example of downer art, reality and fiction become inextricably conjoined to create a mesmerizingly vivid tableau. With raw sequences that linger unpleasantly in the mind long after the abrasive film has run its roughly hewn course, 'The Heart is A Deceitful Above All Things' makes 'Kids' look like a Condé Nast fluff piece!

'In a truly revelatory performance, the electrifying, Asia Argento dominates the screen in her deliriously downbeat drugged-out melodrama 'The Heart is A Deceitful Above All Things'. While relentlessly grim, and unflinchingly cruel, you couldn't prise my eyes away from the ugliness with a greasy spoon!!!' - Weirdlingwolf.