HEEL (2025)

Available On Demand from HanWay Films!
Directed by Jan Komasa.
Written by Bartek Bartosik, Naqqash Khalid.
Check out the trailer here!

ADOLESCENCE’s Stephen Graham looking very Steve Irwin-like with that wig, shines as Chris, the patriarch of a very emotionally twisted family. Chris abducts Tommy (Anson Boon) who is out of his gourd after a long night of drinking. Tommy wakes up with a collar around his neck and chained to the wall. Chris reveals that he and his wife Kathryn (Andrea Riseborough) plan to teach Tommy how to behave and become a part of their family. Through a series of lessons, conditioning, and outright torture, Tommy resists but eventually begins to come around and see this weird group as the family he never had. But when that family becomes threatened by outside forces, will Tommy choose to escape or protect his new family?

More of a twisted drama than straight up horror, HEEL is going to make you squirm. It’s basically about a man and woman chipping away at the will of a broken and destructive kid over a long period of time. There is a lot of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE at work in HEEL as Tommy is forced to watch some of the twisted acts he has done with unblinking, sober eyes. While the film is not completely in your face with the violent breaking of Tommy’s spirit, it is shown throughout. But despite the horrible acts Tommy has done, my heart broke numerous times as he is “rewarded” for good behavior like being taken out into a field for a breath of fresh air and Tommy is actually thankful for getting this “gift.” This is the moral pain one feels when you see a beaten dog still have hope and wag his tail when he sees his abusers approaching. Heartbreaking.

There are no heroes in HEEL. No clean characters to root for. The closest thing to innocence is the younger son of Chris and Kathryn, Jonathan (Kit Rakusen). He has seen this experiment happen before and has also witnessed abuse himself. He is completely on edge all the time, trying not to disappoint his parents and scared to death of them. Still, he attempts to manipulate Tommy as he desperately wants a brotherly companionship himself in this insane household. Rakusen plays this role perfectly. Though he is a young actor, Rakusen conveys a lot of complexity for this role.

The rest of the cast is awful and fascinating all at once. Ever since his portrayal of Al Capone in BOARDWALK EMPIRE, Stephen Graham has been on my radar. In HEEL, he has some of that simmering rage, but there does seem to be some kind of hope that this experiment with Tommy will work, mainly because it benefits his bedridden and sickly wife Kathryn. Her well-being is central to his entire motivation, so once again, you hate this character for what he does but sympathize with him because his goals are noble. Chris wants a strong and loving family and will do just about anything, no matter how morally terrible to accomplish this.

Andrea Riseborough is equally fascinating as Kathryn. She isn’t abusive. She is the good cop in this situation. But Kathryn supports this goal just the same, taking part in the abuse using Chris as the whipping switch. Kathryn benefits from all of this as seen in her health and mentality improving the more progress Tommy shows.

Finally, Anson Boon is wonderful as Tommy. Full of rage at the beginning but showing his softer side towards the end. Yes, he is a monster that is being tamed, but seeing this beast collared as he is—is devastating. The film hinges on his performance, and he succeeds at every crack in the armor that occurs.

Listing all the actors and how awesome they are simply says how amazing the script to HEEL really is. It’s not wham-bang action. It’s a quieter breaking of the soul and spirit. But this film resonates big and will leave you feeling horrible as the credits roll for what transpires for this fucked up family. God, this is a devastating movie. If that feels like a good time to you, then you’re the type of twisted viewer HEEL is looking for.