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Heartland is a film that will tear at you, but not for the reasons it hopes. At the heart of Heartland is a story about all the ache, frustration, and alienation the gay community struggles with and through, which would make for the indie gem of the year. Unfortunately, the film is so focused on belaboring the obvious and tired details of its setting, and it does so, somehow, from such an ingenuous perspective that it never really dives into its own effort.

Velinda Godfrey, who co-wrote (with Todd Waring), produced, and stars in Heartland, is Lauren, who we meet as she is suffering through her dying girlfriend’s last hours. With few options, and naturally distraught, she returns home to figure out what she’s going to do with herself. Unfortunately, her mother, Crystal (Beth Grant), is very religious, which means theirs is obviously a tricky relationship. As is perhaps not completely unusual,...

The long-in-the-making lesbian indie “Heartland” is finally making its world premiere March 5 at the Cinequest Film Festival. The romantic drama stars Laura Spencer (“The Big Bang Theory”) and its screenwriter Velinda Godfrey as star-crossed lovers. Godfrey plays Lauren, an artist who returns to her childhood home in Oklahoma to live with her mother (Beth Grant of “The Mindy Project”) after the death of her longtime girlfriend. Her brother Justin (Aaron Leddick) is also visiting home with his girlfriend Carrie (Spencer). What starts as a friendship between Carrie and Lauren slowly progresses into a forbidden love affair. The film was first written in “Transparent” star Jeffrey Tambor’s film workshop, and has since accumulated praise from actors Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Julia Stiles, and Tambor himself. “This film emulates a reality that we all live in now,” director Maura Anderson said in a statement. “This is the world we live in...