Review: Heaven's Revenge, I Love You to Death

“Heaven's Revenge, I Love You to Death” begins with the story of Heaven Bailey, a happy and energetic woman, and it all starts when she meets Jackson Davis. From the very beginning, the filmmaker’s intention to base her story on the details of human relationships is obvious, and her precision and sensitivity to reconstruct the simplest everyday situations in a completely believable way captures our attention. These are details that are also manifested in the actors' acting, in the rhythm of the scenes, in the dialogues, and the set designs.

The director is in no hurry to form the relationship between Heaven and Jackson, and develops it step by step by depicting their first walk together, their dining together, and their conversations where the two talk about anything under the sun. Her presentation of their relationship is strongly believable and includes the ups and downs of a romantic date, captured so compellingly that the audience is fully convinced of how an independent woman who has never been in love with a man before is seduced. In addition to good, convincing acting, the dialogues are also effective and appropriate. Furthermore, the director knows very well that scenes with no dialogues can be as much impactful in advancing the film too, scenes that are composed of the right combination of music and image.

Written by Miranda Bowden-Parker, Marcus Nel-Jamal Hamm, and LaNease Adams, the screenplay seems to be not much dependent on the chronological order of events, and thus in the very first ten minutes of the film, a year has passed. This makes the script constantly moving from one place and time to another. Given that the viewer is already presented with the background of their relationship (the woman's hesitation to start a relationship and fall in love with someone), the story focuses on that initial doubt and how to return to it again now that a year has passed rather than the everyday ordinary aspects of the couple's relationship. Jackson is having an affair with another woman at the same time, and therefore is reluctant to take his relationship with Heaven to a more serious level. The script creates a conflict that propels the story by concentrating on the issue of commitment, and its primary background of how the very same person one falls in love with can inflict harm and pain. Since the film touches on a subject that is familiar to most of its audience, it is the filmmaker's treatment of the subject, and the approach she adopts that gives the film a new perspective. Her artistic use of acting, dialogue, and smooth cinematography takes the audience to the depth of the relationship without crossing the boundary into clichés. One great instance of this is the sequence in which Heaven goes to Jackson's house, cries and their relationship ends. The logical consequence of such a mental breakdown is what happens in the sequence in which she shoots Jackson to take revenge.

After Heaven shoots Jackson and he miraculously survives, their relationship changes completely. Now the darker side of a woman who was willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of her beloved man is revealed: her ruthless side. LaNease Adams's convincing acting dramatizes the details of the transformation of a calm and loving woman into a woman full of hatred for Jackson. A woman who, after her mental breakdown, is ready to torment and destroy her beloved man bit by bit. Jackson, released from the hospital in a wheelchair, is now in the hands of a woman who is just showing her dark side, like a prisoner. He himself is responsible for the awakening of this dark side. His inability to move and the fact that his health is now in Heaven's hands leaves him with no choice but to listen to Heaven's arguments about relationships and love and the world of women in the post-hospital scenes, and get into a conversation with her he had avoided in the last days of their relationship.

The climax of such a conversation, in which Jackson must necessarily be honest, is the sequence in the bathroom where he gives his phone password to Heaven, and she discovers all his simultaneous affairs.

Director LaNease Adams

The second half of the film exposes new aspects of Heaven’s character without focusing too much on her nervous breakdown. She can have a quite normal conversation with another woman while directing her madness towards Jackson. However, her condition is constantly getting worse until it affects all her dealings with the outside world. She has embarked on a path of no return. “Heaven's Revenge, I Love You to Death” is a film that begins with romance, proceeds to picture the beauties and joys of a relationship, arrives at the moment of regret and the end of the relationship turns into a psychological drama of madness, and ends in tragedy.

You can find more information about the film from its official website: http://www.heavensrevenge.com/