Photosensitivity Warning: In several key sequences, flickering lights are used to convey enhanced emotions which may prove problematic for sensitive viewers.
In undergrad at UNC at Asheville, during a lower-level English course, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was read and discussed as the story of Mina and Jonathan Harker in their battle with the feared vampire Dracula as it played before us on the pages. It struck no one else in my class as odd that every chapter is from the perspective of the humans trying to kill Dracula and not one from the perspective of the lone specimen who was, I argued, trying to prevent a genocide by repopulating his people. Now, with films like Twilight (2008), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), What We Do in the Shadows (2014), and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), I wonder if the dialogue today would be different given the atypical representation in modern entertainment. Mixing together elements of melancholic drama Only Lovers Left Alive and teen coming-of-age tale My Best Friend’s a Vampire (1987) is director/co-writer Ariane Louis-Seize’s (See You in My Dreams) Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant). The expectations of the vampire genre with the disquiet of teenage angst combine to form a quietly charming exploration of what it means to be human through the experience of someone severely outside the species, someone beyond time, beyond death, and yet so connected to life that the idea of taking it defies a perceived natural order, creating an opportunity to examine the complexity of the human condition.
L-R: Steve Laplante as Aurélien, Sophie Cadieux as Georgette, Lilas-Rose Cantin as Sasha, Marie Brassard as Victorine, and Valence Laroche as Denise in HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON. Photo courtesy of Art et Essai and Drafthouse Films.
Unlike the rest of her family, Sasha (Sara Montpetit) struggles to hunt and kill when hungry, opting instead for a liquid diet procured through more conscientious means. This wouldn’t be so bad if they were regular people, but as vampires, their options for sustenance are limited. Worried for her development as an independent adult, Sasha’s parents cut her off and send her to live with her cousin Denise (Noémie O’Farrell), hoping she can teach Sasha a thing or two. Despite Denise’s guidance and pushing, Sasha still struggles with what should be her natural tendencies … until she meets Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard), a bullied young man looking for a way out of this life.
L-R: Félix-Antoine Bénard as Paul and Sara Montpetit as Sasha in HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON. Photo courtesy of Art et Essai and Drafthouse Films.
The script by first-time feature writer Christine Doyon (Sang Papier) and Louis-Seize is a rich one. The surface of the film can be described as a vampire struggling to come to terms with their only means of survival despite it being against everything in their core, and the relationships they build along the way. That story is rife with various coming-of-age hallmarks like the almost-ostracized member of the family (Sasha) because she breaks the family’s cultural norms and the kid who is unrelentingly bullied by others (Paul). These two even have a double meet-cute which is beautifully staged and performed by the two actors so that we not only see the drama and realization of the moment, but also feel the significance. A lot of the scenes between Sasha and Paul are silent, their dialogue brief, the silence lacking awkwardness and being pregnant with meaning. This makes the moments in which they do speak or spend time together far more weighted, such as when the pair hang out at Denise’s place briefly and share a song together in a moment with no editing that has the duo in frame and entirely in our focus, each reacting differently to the song they share yet clearly are doing so within rhythm to each other. It’s a moment that implies a certain amount of being in-sync beyond the initial zing the two characters clearly experience upon the second meeting. It would be easy enough for Doyon and Louis-Seize to leave things just like this, a supernatural teen romance, but the script goes deeper, making choices that speak to larger issues of marginalization and how even within marginalized communities the social rules create hierarchies with their own expectations.
Consider for a moment that your existence is separate from the bonds of time. How would you live day to day? What would you do? What would you adorn yourself with? Take a look around your space now — stop reading and look — what do you see around you? What hangs on your walls? What clothes are you wearing and how long have you had them? What locks you into this moment right here and what still tethers you to a different time? Within Humanist Vampire, Louis-Seize and Doyon use that same idea within the set decoration and costuming, thereby giving Sasha and her family a sense of being of a in the past while the rest of the world is not, like using current mobile phones. This matters because it speaks to an outmoded way of thinking and existing, to stay within one’s safe space, even when that safe space is filled with scary things, they are the known scary things versus the unknown unknowns, the unquantifiables that keep us up at night (or during the day, in this case). The film opens with Sasha as a young girl in a sequence that establishes so much (tone, ideas, relationships) quickly, and then we’re given a brief montage of medical experts as Sasha’s parents try to figure out what’s “wrong” with her. From one vampire expert to another, the equipment is seemingly outmoded, of a specific era, and with it comes a narrow view of looking at who Sasha is within a vampire’s world. Now, there’s a major reason for this that’s explained, but, it continues past that logical space and into the psychological wherein the notions of familial bonds are tested against the concepts society brings regarding how one should behave or, to some degree, exist. In the case of Sasha, Louis-Seize and Doyon make her the extreme outlier, a vampire who refuses to feed directly on humans. What does that look like when 40 years are a blip in a longer existence? More importantly, how does that impact someone internally when 40 years is a lifetime to others? Luckily, the script never spirals into such bouts of existentialism, using the coming-of-age aspects to soften things, enabling the life-and-death aspects of this tale to focus more on the “life” despite the harbinger of death being personified by the reluctant Sasha.
Sara Montpetit as Sasha in HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON. Photo courtesy of Art et Essai and Drafthouse Films.
If one were to nitpick, the utilization of light to indict Sasha’s internal processing is one of many elements involving the vampiric side of things that goes without explanation, left to be felt and explored as a metaphor rather than anything concrete. The first time it happens is during the introductory portion of the film about the time that Doyon and Louis-Seize reveal that these characters are vampires. It’s not long into the film, a matter of minutes, and by not explaining things, they leave the audience to infer based upon performance and editing what things mean. In this case, when young Sasha (played by Lilas-Rose Cantin) is shown while her family eats, their noises clearly audible to us, Sasha’s growing disquiet becomes evermore present in Lilas-Rose Cantin’s performance, the lights by her start to pulse. Is it caused by Sasha’s rising unease? A showcase for the power within her struggling to come out since natural pathways are blocked? Or is it merely a fantastical visual affectation because it’s a supernatural drama and why not? Much like the rules of vampires are not fully laid out in this world, thereby creating instances of potential inconsistency, one is left to conjure their own meaning to these somewhat frequent instances. Frankly, the way that it’s used is so intentionally by Louis-Seize that the only thing that is truly a problem with it (especially after the beautifully staged one-shot with Montpetit and Bénard lit in a pulsing red light) is the potential for triggering issues within photosensitive individuals, especially near the climax. Another minor issue is most likely created by accident with a scene missing in which adult Sasha, at her lowest, is dressed in a casual, colorful outfit, but, immediately in the next scene, is wearing all black. For the new scene, this outfit helps not only set a tone for the new location, but also affords Sasha a look as though she’s little more than a floating face, denoting just how low she is psychologically, as her long hair blends with the dark coat, pants, and shoes. Except, given what had happened in the scene prior to her clothing change, one can’t help but wonder how she was able to perform a costume change between scenes. Again, these are minor issues amid a film that’s beautifully performed, smartly constructed, and emotionally resonant.
Sara Montpetit as Sasha in HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON. Photo courtesy of Art et Essai and Drafthouse Films.
Rules most certainly exist in storytelling, but when it comes to vampires, who cares as long as they’re consistent and compelling. For the most part, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person meets both of these criteria, making rules without overly explaining them, thereby creating wiggle room for a shift in interpretation or adaptation. Within this space exists opportunity that Ariane Louis-Seize takes full advantage of, offering a tale that’s light on the bloodletting (as far as vampire films go) but heavy on weight, empowering any flow of crimson to matter. Complete with a quiet-yet-disarming performance from Montpetit, Humanist Vampire is a surprise horror tale that delights far more than it terrifies, and that’s a rule within the genre worth adapting when the story warrants it.
Screening during The Overlook Film Festival 2024.
In NYC and LA theaters June 21st, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Art et Essai Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
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