Heaven Knows What | Horrifyingly mesmerising New York junkie tale

(Image credit: © The Movie Partnership)

Horrifyingly mesmerising.

A raw, documentary-style account of junkies and hustlers on the streets of New York’s Upper West Side, Heaven Knows What is undeniably tough to watch. Yet if you feel up to the challenge then there is something horrifyingly mesmerising about this work from independent filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie.

In large part, that’s because of the spellbinding performance in the lead of Arielle Holmes, the one-time homeless heroin addict on whose memoir, Mad Love in New York City, the film is based. The Safdie brothers capture her experiences with scuzzy immediacy, while Holmes’ co-star, Caleby Landry Jones, hits a new low in on-screen scumbaggery as her truly repellent boyfriend, Ilya.

Certificate 18. Runtime 95 mins. Directors Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie

Heaven Knows What debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on Tuesday 19 September. Available on DVD & Digital from Axiom Films.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA9SuwRfcGA

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.