‘Heartland’ Review: Can a Grammy in the Fridge Crack a Nashville Mystery?

Netflix has dropped ‘Heartland’ onto its homepage this weekend, and the pitch is easy to like. Jessica Chastain plays Misty Jones, a former country megastar who has spent twenty years hiding on a pecan farm in Georgia with her dogs. When a neighbor kills one of those dogs, she answers by shooting out his windows, which tells you most of what you need to know about her.

The film comes from writer and director Shana Feste, who last visited the world of country music with ‘Country Strong’ back in 2010. This time she trades the musical drama for a missing person mystery, with producer Peter Chernin behind it and Garrett Hedlund, Jennifer Nettles, Ross Lynch and John Hawkes filling out the cast. It is a handsome lineup for a streaming original, and it arrives with the kind of premise that makes you press play before you have read the full synopsis.

Misty is dragged back to Nashville when her brother, played by Paul Sparks, begs for help finding his daughter. That niece is Charlie Heart, a rising young singer played by real life country artist Carter Faith, who has vanished while her handlers and the police shrug it off as a diva’s bad behavior. Nobody wants Misty back in town, and several people seem prepared to make that very clear.

What follows is a pleasantly noisy investigation, and the film is at its best when it lets Misty turn her old trade into a detective tool. Watching her get back on stage to sing at suspects, or find meaning in Charlie’s own lyrics, gives ‘Heartland’ a texture most streaming thrillers never bother to attempt. Real Nashville spots and live musicians give the whole thing a sense of place that feels earned.

Chastain is the reason to stay. She plays Misty as a bundle of bruised pride and bad manners, forever ready to slash a tire or flip off a camera, and she commits to the singing too. The performance has a swagger that keeps scenes alive even when the writing around her goes slack.

The trouble is the mystery itself. A major turn lands around the midpoint, and anyone who has watched a few thrillers will see it coming well before Misty does. Once that card is on the table, the second half becomes a matter of waiting for the film to catch up with you, and the villains never really surprise.

There are smaller blemishes as well. Some of the exposition sounds oddly hollow, as though it was recorded in a different room from the one on screen, and the tone wobbles between pulp fun and serious drama about how young women are chewed up by the music business. Feste clearly cares about that second subject, and the film touches on exploitation and abuse with real sincerity, but it never fully trusts those themes to carry the story.

Still, I found it hard to dislike. The cinematography gives Nashville’s neon a pleasing noir glow, Hedlund brings an unsettling gentleness to his role, and Hawkes makes the most of his flashback scenes as Misty’s cheating ex. When ‘Heartland’ leans into its corny, sincere side, it plays like a country song you know every word of, and that familiarity is part of its charm.

My verdict is that ‘Heartland’ is an easy, enjoyable watch built on a thin mystery and held up almost entirely by its lead. I enjoyed the atmosphere, the music and Chastain’s attitude far more than the plot, and I wish the script had matched her energy. I give it 6.5 out of 10.

Did ‘Heartland’ win you over with Misty Jones and her Nashville swagger, or did you see that twist coming too, so tell us in the comments whether you agree with this verdict.