Torn Hearts

There’s a photograph of slinky sexagenarian superstar Harper Dutch (Katey Sagal) posing beside thirtysomething star of the moment Caleb Crawford (Shiloh Fernandez) in a frame in his Nashville apartment. Why is it there? He could want to show it off to boost his career, but he seems uncomfortable when ambitious young musician Jordan (Abby Quinn) finds it whilst wandering around the place after their one night stand. Perhaps he keeps it simply as a warning to himself. At a glance, Harper’s pose is casual, but anyone who has spent time with women like her can see that she’s capable of eating him alive.

There are not, of course, very many women like her. She used to be one half of the Dutchess Sisters, whom we see in the prologue being named Best New Artists, back in 1993. Now Hope is dead – they say she killed herself in front of Harper – and Harper has shut herself away behind a twisting, wrought iron, pink-painted gate and vast overgrown garden in a house miles from anywhere, giving herself over to hard liquor and sequinned memories. Until, that is, Jordan and her bandmate Leigh (Alexxis Lemire) come bearing pie, wanting to tempt her out of retirement and thereby boost their own career.

From the outset, the young women sense that something is a little bit off. It’s not just the latent ferocity in Harper’s every word, or the way she keeps plying them with drink, or even the casual way she slaps Jordan on the arse. It’s not just the way the house is decked out like a disco mausoleum or the quick asides Harper makes to somebody who isn’t there. This woman is clearly unhinged, but she has direction, she has plans. They just might not quite correspond with what Jordan and Leigh are after.

In an industry full of extreme power imbalances, boundaries are crossed every day. Director Brea Grant, who has had a longstanding interest in such themes, here provides a timely reminder that it’s not just men who exploit those yet to get established (though there’s a reminder at the end that when women screw each other over, it’s often men who win). Monstrous though she is, however, Harper is one of those great cinematic anti-heroines who just eat up the screen and seemed destined for legendary status, if only through the power of self-belief. A long way from Married With Children’s Peg Bundy, Sagal throws herself into the role with such force that’s a wonder the screen doesn’t break. She delivers a woman who is sharp-witted, insightful, glamorous, sexy, quite mad and almost certainly dangerous. if she doesn’t get at least one disco anthem out of this, somebody should call the cops.

With the house functioning as an extension of Harper’s personality, the young women can but flounder; they were effectively swallowed the moment they walked through the door. Thet do so with pluck, however, and even if it doesn’t take long for fists to start flying, Harper still needs time to try to rip their friendship apart completely. In the process, she makes room for them to show different sides of themselves. Leigh is happy to offer herself up to be groomed, whilst Jordan, exploring her surroundings, makes a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries.

Both young actresses acquit themselves well, with Quinn getting the meatier role and successfully keeping the audience with her even as she’s forced into the uncomfortable role of the one who complains. Jordan’s instinct that they’re in danger is, after all, a sound one. Her persistent efforts to reinvest in a friendship she has always believed in is endearing, if a little less savvy. There are no innocents here, however, and in true country music tradition, every sin must be paid for. Screening at Frightfest just a month after Mickey Reece’s Country Gold graced Fantasia, Torn Hearts might leave people wondering if there’s something in the water. Whatever it is, you’ll want to make sure you don’t miss out.