Vampires have undergone an odd renaissance in the 21st century. They’ve always been somewhat romantic characters, but the teenage paranormal fiction craze has them falling in love and sparkling. As such, it takes a special movie to break the mold and not feel stale. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person may just be that movie.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is about a reluctant young vampire named Sasha (Sara Montpetit) who is being pressured by her family to make her first kill and begin to feed for herself. While half-heartedly hunting, she comes across what she believes may be the solution to her problem – a lonely boy named Paul (Félix-Antione Bénard) with suicidal tendencies who is willing to die for her. But as their friendship blossoms, Paul realizes that he may not want to die as much as he thinks he does – and Sasha may not be as averse to killing as she thinks she is.
Directed by Ariane Louis-Seize from a script she wrote with Christine Doyon, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is less of a horror movie and more of a quirky little coming-of-age tale. Bloodshed and brutality are involved, but the movie is more about the main characters trying to avoid it rather than embrace it. And about how both Sasha and Paul are confused about their places in the world and how they fit in with their respective lives.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is a dark movie, both visually and narratively. Predictably, most of it takes place at night when vampires can roam free, so nearly every scene is draped in darkness and shadow. Sasha even has a wonderful plain-Jane goth look that would probably make people jokingly ask her if she was a vampire if she did wander out in the daytime. Paul’s dread is in his soul – he’s hopelessly unhappy with a bleak outlook on his life and future. He himself claims that he just doesn’t enjoy life. So, Sasha and Paul seem like a match made in heaven.
Despite this dark aesthetic, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is more humorous than it is scary. As is apparent from its title, there’s a black comedy edge to the movie. The awkwardness between Sasha and Paul is uncomfortably comedic, sort of like laughing at the situation they are in more than laughing at the characters themselves, who are, frankly, not funny at all. Sasha’s family, who are all more traditional vampires, are more comical, and while their bickering antics may not be trying to be funny, they are the clowns to Sasha’s straight man.
One of the brightest and most refreshing aspects of Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is how it sticks to vampire lore without leaning heavily on it. Sure, all of the tropes are there, from immortality (Sasha looks like a teenager, but is actually 68 years old) to avoiding sunlight (at one point, Sasha and her cousin have to hurry to dispose of a body before the sun comes up), but the movie doesn’t depend completely on these stereotypes to make its point. In fact, some of the tropes are treated with the film’s trademarked black humor, such as in one scene where Paul asks Sasha how she feels about crosses (“it’s more like an allergy”).
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person does for vampires what Warm Bodies did for zombies about ten years ago or so. It flips the script, turning the monsters into misunderstood heroes. And, while it’s hard to call it fun, it is an enjoyable movie, if only for the fact that it’s a creative and unique take on one of the oldest and most proven movie monsters. And we don’t mean creative in the sparkly sense, either.
GRADE: B
Release Date: June 21, 2024, limited
Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Studio: Drafthouse Films
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