The Heart Machine is a 2014 romantic thriller film written and directed by Zachary Wigon in his feature directorial debut. The film is based Wigon's 2012 short film Someone Else's Heart. The film is about a man (played by John Gallagher Jr.) who attempts to track down the woman (played by Kate Lyn Sheil) with whom he has been in an online-only relationship, as he suspects that she has lied to him about key details of her life. The film was released in a limited release on October 24, 2014, by Filmbuff.
Plot
After they meet on a dating site, Cody and Virginia begin chatting with each other over Skype and subsequently start a long-distance relationship. Virginia tells Cody that although she lives in Germany, she plans to return to the New York City area in six months, and they make plans to meet. As they grow emotionally closer, Cody experiences second thoughts when a series of details seem to contradict Virginia's story, such as the sirens of emergency vehicles that sound North American. Cody becomes very confused when he sees what he believes to be Virginia on a New York City subway train. He does not approach her, but in his next Skype chat with her, he says he spotted her doppelgänger.
Virginia is revealed to be living in New York City and using social networking apps to meet people for casual sex. Cody, who uses aural cues in their Skype chats to track down likely locations, begins to visit places she has mentioned. In a bar, he meets a man who recognizes her face but does not know her. After listening to Cody's story, he says that Virginia is likely messing with him, and he directs Cody to a cafe that Virginia frequents. There, Cody meets a barista that matches the profile of someone Virginia said she once dated. Later, Cody ingratiates himself into the barista's house, where he attempts to casually inquire about Virginia. When the man becomes suspicious of his motives, Cody excuses himself and leaves.
Cody further investigates Virginia's life and studies her pictures on Facebook to find out who her friends are. When he discovers one of them is going to a venue, he waits until she arrives and then joins the line. After making small talk with her, they end up at her apartment and begin to make out. Cody stops and asks her questions about Virginia, which confuses her. After he checks her phone and computer for evidence that she knows Virginia, she angrily orders him to leave. Cody uses Craigslist's missed connections feature to meet with another of Virginia's friends. Later, he locates the apartment complex in which she lives, and when he finds evidence of food that she has eaten on Skype in the building's trash, he stops accepting her calls.
Virginia realizes that she can not keep the illusion up any longer, and they finally meet face-to-face. Virginia explains that she has had many failed relationships that began very well, and she wanted to find some way to make this one work. Thinking that if they could never meet in person that it might preserve the relationship, she impulsively lied when he asked to meet her in their first Skype conversation. Cody silently listens to her explanation, then tells her that the relationship was a mistake. The film ends as he walks away.