‘Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person’: A Vamp Who Can’t Kill and a Boy Who Wants to Die
Vampires have problems too. Sure, they’re ruthless, fiendish, bloodsucking creatures of the night. But just because they’re immortal doesn’t mean that vampires are born without hearts—just that those hearts don’t “beat” in the traditional sense! Reconciling fangs with friendliness is the problem young vamp Sasha (Sara Montpetit) faces in director Ariane Louis-Seize’s feature-length debut, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, a highly original take on the vampire subgenre in theaters June 21.
If you’re intimidated by a title that reads more like a song by The 1975 than a film, worry not: Humanist Vampire is anything but long-winded. Louis-Seize’s film is an inviting coming-of-age tale about how a vampire gets by when she’s not inclined to kill. Sasha’s pacifist ways go against those of her undead clan—a kooky bunch of relatives that feels like a modern, very French version of the Addams Family—much to the disappointment of her mother, Georgette. (Sophie Cadieux). As if teenage girls didn’t have complicated relationships with their mothers as it is, Georgette gives Sasha a very uncool ultimatum: Start killing or move out.
Louis-Seize, who also co-wrote the film alongside Christine Doyon, approaches all of this with a delightfully dry humor, reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s best works. Her direction is unassuming and aloof, giving the movie an air of coolness that other filmmakers bog themselves down trying too hard to conjure. Montpetit’s performance as Sasha is a big credit to that seemingly effortless confidence. With her blunt black bangs and cozy costuming, Montpetit looks poised to take over mood boards and TikTok feeds the second a chill hits the air. (Only a decade ago, this movie would have been a Tumblr staple.) An eye for style and a mind for wit keep Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person from falling prey to the tropes of tawdry vampire movies of late. It may be the chic, new twist this subgenre has needed to wake it from the dead.