(Giada Colagrande and Natalie Cristiani) playing the not- so-innocent sisters in Open My Heart

Now out on DVD, the Italian drama Open My Heart opens with two sisters—the 17-year-old Caterina (Giada Colagrande) and her older sibling Maria (Natalie Cristiani)—sharing a bed. Yet what might pass as sisterly affection is soon revealed to be more intimate than one might expect or even appreciate. It is not long before Maria is seen naked in that same bed writhing in ecstasy as Caterina pleasures her sexually. Curiously, this lesbian incest scene is not the most shocking development in this bold DV film directed by Colagrande in a cool, minimalist style.

While the film takes a long time to get to some of its more interesting plot developments—few of which should be revealed—it can be said that however chilling the actions perpetrated in Open My Heart, the impact of them is unfortunately diluted. Colagrande has created an unusual character study, but she seems to be intent on keeping viewers detached from the fierce power struggle between the enigmatic Maria and the passive Caterina.

The first act of the film establishes the relationship between the motherless sisters. Caterina is a shy teenager who studies at home, leaving the apartment only to attend a ballet class. In the afternoons, Maria earns money as a prostitute, and a parade of johns pass through the apartment, interrupting Caterina’s studies, especially with the noise they make screwing Maria on a squeaky bed. While Maria goes out in the evenings, Caterina is never allowed to leave, but this arrangement does not seem to trouble the younger sister.

The dynamic between the siblings soon changes when Caterina is hit on by Giovanni (Claudio Botosso), the janitor at her ballet school. Caterina is initially wary of this older man, but when Giovanni becomes a client of Maria’s, Caterina it seems, becomes determined to seduce him, performing a dance routine that looks like something done in a strip club. Is it jealousy or lust that drives Caterina to Giovanni? At first it is unclear, but on his next visit, Maria invites Giovanni to fuck Caterina. This sets in motion a chain of events that have serious repercussions for all.

Open My Heart generates most of its tension during its second act when Caterina and Giovanni hide their sexual relationship from Maria. The prurient nature of the older man/younger girl affair is as taboo as the explicit love shared between the two sisters, but perhaps the film’s greatest mystery is determining just who is taking advantage of whom. All three characters are, Colagrande suggests, equally guilty.

Alas, while the actress-director may be shrewd to pose such questions, and offer hints about why Caterina and Maria are the way they are, much of the characters’ behavior is disturbing for all the wrong reasons. Viewers should be taken aback by the sisters’ inappropriate actions—especially in the last act when things get really sinister—but the film’s overly cool tone prevents any serious emotional involvement.

This may be because Colagrande tips her hand early when Caterina quotes “the soul is not imprisoned by the body, but the body is imprisoned by the soul.” Unfortunately, a repetitive sequence of events reinforcing this idea does little in the way of expanding on it. Likewise, a few cutaway shots to religious artwork fails to add any significant meaning to this thesis.

The performances are equally inscrutable. Both Colagrande and Natalie Cristiani—well matched as sisters—are experts at showing little emotion and few expressions, and this certainly enhances their characterizations, however, it also makes Caterina and Maria unduly remote. As Giovanni, Claudio Botosso is suitably smarmy as the older suitor, though his threesome with the sisters is mildly erotic.

Open My Heart is intriguing because Colagrande does not shy away from presenting unusual characters and uncomfortable situations. If only she had made them more engaging.