Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, Only Lovers Left Alive is an intensely unique and utterly fascinating vampire movie, portraying the undead not as tortured souls or bloodsucking monsters but as witnesses to history, who have learned to appreciate art, literature, music, and what it truly means to be alive.
Adam (Tom Hiddelston), a centuries-old musician / vampire, resides in Detroit. His wife Eve (Tilda Swinton) lives in Tangiers, and while she enjoys her occasional visits with old friend and fellow vampire Christopher “Kit” Marlowe (John Hurt), she misses her beloved.
So Eve hops a nighttime flight to America and reunites with her husband of many, many years. But Eve’s troublesome sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) has somehow tracked them down, and her flighty attitude threatens not only Adam and Eve’s happiness, but their everlasting lives as well.
With extraordinary performances throughout, Only Lovers Left Alive paints an idyllic portrait of a vampire’s existence, depicting them as advanced beings who have taken full advantage of the centuries, experiencing all that the world has (and had) to offer. Adam is an accomplished musician in nearly every musical style, while Eve reads a wide variety of books, printed in dozens of languages. They are not merely the bloodthirsty undead; Adam and Eve are poets, scholars, and as engaging as any movie characters I have ever encountered.
Relying on his patented low-key approach, Jarmusch has crafted a singular motion picture; not since The Lost Boys has a movie made vampirism look so damned appealing!
Rating: 10 out of 10
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