“Heartworm”

I struggled mightily with “Heartworm,” a convoluted, messy pile of sci-fi ambition from co-writers and co-directors Miriam Louise Arens and Mitchell Arens. The film has the kind of premise that should be an easy win, with a story about grief, AI, and memory that’s all wrapped in a near future world. And to be fair, there’s something genuinely compelling at the core here. The idea of bereaved parents turning to a virtual ecosystem to hold onto what they’ve lost is emotionally rich territory, but the movie just can’t get out of its own way.

Instead of grounding that concept in something coherent (a’la “Black Mirror”), the directors lean hard into an overly abstract, artsy style that quickly becomes exhausting. The storytelling jumps between reality, virtual reality, and memory in a way that feels less intentional and more like it’s daring you to keep up. As a viewer, it’s a frustrating experience where you’re constantly trying to piece things together, but the payoff never really justifies the effort.

The film succeeds in how it explores isolation and the strain that grief puts on relationships, but most of those moments get buried under layers of convoluted storytelling. What should feel intimate and devastating ends up distant and frustrating, which ultimately sinks the film.

“Heartworm” is clearly an ambitious science fiction psychodrama, and while you can respect what it’s aiming for, ambition alone can’t wholly carry a film. The idea is strong and I’m certain there’s a meaningful story somewhere in there, but the end result it so muddled that it fails to connect with the audience.

By: Louisa Moore