Review of Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) by Enguerrand B — 21 Feb 2014

Just watched "Only Lovers Left Alive" and am feeling ways. Its a great distillation of the vampire movie genre. Seriously, its filled with cliches but they don't detract from the movie in any way. The atmosphere was very grimy. I wanted to say dark but dark just can't capture the essence of this film. Its set mostly in Detroit and the vistas of decay were sad, lovely, and amazing. Also, the score and soundtrack are something else. Only Lovers Left Alive is both like and unlike any vampire movie I've seen. There's been a dearth of good Fantasy/Horror in cinema and vampire movies seem to go either in the direction of Underworld(over the top camp) or Twilight(slitting my wrists would only make me thirsty) and don't go near Interview With The Vampire(stop complaining about your unlife and live it). OLLA does that quite well and is a solid addition to everyone's favorite vampire film. One big plus is that the past isn't told via flashback and any relevant information comes from the lips of the main characters themselves.

Tom Hiddleston's Adam is both Louie and Lestat, a brooding nihilist who hates humanity and yet is entirely unable(or willing) to take charge of his own life, and Tilda Swinton's Eve, is a realist with a husband who's sort of a project. The only downside to this movie is that even after two hours you feel like it only just started and the entire film was just staging for something more. That's not much of a downside but it has left me wondering and thinking. Also, there's no main "point" that the film tries to convey that hasn't been made in other films of the same genre. Its not the type of film that warrants a sequel but a non-traditional sequel would be nice. There's a character that's in the film for maybe 10 to 20 minutes and then is never seen again that interested me.

Overall this movies gets an 8.5 out of 10. I had to deduct .5 for my "love everything involving Tom Hiddleston" bias and 1 for a plot that didn't need to be thinned but was and it took something essential and intangible from the film.