If Dolan is able to derive a certain comic tension from the simple threat of what could happen with these three in close quarters, he and his co-actors often spoil the mystery of the unsaid with the tells on their faces.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
In a sense, Heartbeats demonstrates that Dolan has a lot on his mind as a budding filmmaker.
Though his results are sometimes raw, Dolan seems to be chronicling heartache as he discovers it. Indulge him.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey
A light, slight, wry look at the beautiful and besotted, which gets away with not having much to say, thanks to its charm and excessive good looks.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Xavier Dolan is back with another madly stylish Montreal-made delight.
Director Dolan gets the feeling of emptiness so right that anyone who has ever known the heartbreak of a crushing affair can easily identify, even with subtitles.
Splashy colors, oddball framing, super-cool threads and cranked-up retro music supply the picture's bizarre love triangle with a dance-club atmosphere that'll seduce young audiences of most any orientation.
Far from being a liability, Dolan's youthfulness gives it unmistakable vibrancy: This is a love-crazy, movie-crazy affair, laying bare its emotions just as plainly as its influences.
Movieline by Stephanie Zacharek
There's a lot that works in Heartbeats - so much that its flaws stand out in disappointingly sharp relief.