Heartless

A social media influencer wraps up filming a video for her channel, before proceeding to her lengthy and intense beauty routine. She ends her routine with a dark and disturbing secret.

Synopsis

Stacy Hart is a famous lifestyle influencer on social media, amassing millions of followers due to her beauty. Through her content, she shares her wellness habits and routines, marketing herself as transparent and selling curated intimacy between creator and audience, convincing them that she keeps no secrets and that criticism has no effect on her.

As Stacy closes her laptop after filming a video, she allows her online persona to drop along with her fake smile. She begins her beauty routine alone, her actions becoming slower, more deliberate, and obsessive, revealing a ritualistic approach to maintaining her appearance. She practices yoga, has a bath, grooms, and does her makeup with an increasing intensity that betrays her calm exterior.

Although Stacy markets authenticity, she hides the most extreme part of her routine from her audience. Online hate comments linger in her mind, fuelling a fear of aging, judgment, and loss of relevance. She believes that her beauty is truly maintained through a violent private ritual: consuming the hearts of those who criticise her online.

In the final scene, Stacy prepares the last step of her routine. She places a cloche on the table, a cruel tweet targeted at her taped to its surface. The cloche is lifted to reveal the heart of the user who made that comment, ready for consumption. Before indulging, she posts a message to her followers, claiming that her only secret is a "good diet". As she brings the fork to her mouth, she smiles. Her ritual is now complete for the day.