With Love and a Major Organ

In this dry, absurdist sci-fi comedy from Canadian filmmaker Kim Albright, a sensitive and lonely “virtual insurance” agent tears out her own heart and gifts it to the object of her affection, only for him to replace his own with it and open up a whole new world of emotional possibilities.The metaphor of ripping one’s heart out has been used to express anguish and devotion across countless mediums, but this act is made a reality in this existential rom-com. Set in a proto-dystopia where everyone’s heart is a different object, Anabel lets the glowing lantern inside her chest guide her. As a hopeless romantic and artist, she’s an outlier in a society that prefers to ignore and suppress genuine emotion. Unlike Anabel, most people rely on an app's efficient and highly curated instructions to get through their day. But when Anabel falls for a dispassionate stranger who’s incapable of loving her, she tears her heart out in the hope it will end her “toxic” relationship with her emotions. WITH LOVE AND A MAJOR ORGAN tackles our increasingly isolated world with magical realism and biting snark to emphasize the ways late-stage capitalism and our dependence on technology are hindering our empathy and personal relationships. —D.O.Warning: This film may potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy.