Release: Heartbeat

 

Heartbeat

Genre: Drama

Director: Ralph Fiennes

Writer: Sammy-Jo Ellis

Cast: Paul Mescal, Carey Mulligan, James Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Erin Doherty

Budget: $23,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $13,404,395

Foreign Box Office: $12,000,012

Total Profit: -$14,777,490

Reaction: Things have been slim pickings since Boba Fett kicked the season and the round off with a massive success. 

"Heartbeat is an engaging if somewhat formulaic legal-medical thriller elevated by strong performances from Paul Mescal and Carey Mulligan. Ralph Fiennes brings a quiet authority to both his direction and supporting role, and the film effectively taps into anxieties surrounding profit-driven healthcare. However, the plotting occasionally feels overly convenient, with conspiracy reveals arriving too neatly and courtroom turns lacking the complexity they need. Still, Mulligan and Mescal make the material compelling enough to carry through its familiar beats." - Kirk Langerhorn, The Sun UK

“It’s a bit by the numbers, and don’t be surprised if you can predict everything that happens, but Carey Mulligan gives an earnest and charming performance as the surgeon trying to save her career and livelihood from a healthcare system so horribly broken.” - Mitchell Parker, New York Times

"Despite an intriguing setup, Heartbeat quickly collapses into melodrama and increasingly implausible plotting. The film juggles hospital corruption, legal drama, romance, sabotage, and systemic healthcare criticism without giving enough depth to any one idea. Paul Mescal is charismatic but feels oddly miscast as a polished courtroom attorney, while the central conspiracy grows so broad and convenient it begins to resemble a prestige-TV medical soap. Carey Mulligan does strong work with Clara’s emotional conflict, but even she struggles against dialogue and twists that too often feel engineered rather than earned." - Wayne Heathcliff, Kansas City Star

PG-13 for language and thematic material