The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968) is an American drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Robert Ellis Miller from Carson McCullers' debut novel of 1940. Alan Arkin landed an Oscar nomination for Best Actor; Sondra Locke, in her first film role, got one for Best Supporting Actress.

John Singer is a deaf-mute whose only real friend — a cheerful, impulsive man named Spiros — is committed to a psychiatric ward. Singer moves to a small Southern town to stay close to the clinic and rents a room. People start confiding in him without quite knowing why. Mick, the teenage daughter of his landlord, pours out her dream of becoming a concert pianist. A Black doctor (Percy Rodriguez) carries years of frustration at a system designed to keep him down. A drifter talks. A drunk talks. Singer listens.

Arkin built the performance without a single word of dialogue — posture, expression, stillness. It's a quieter picture than its award history implies, and it holds up well. Stream The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968) online on iFILM.