Only Lovers Left Alive

Cult director Jim Jarmusch brings his uniquely hip strain of existentialism to every genre he approaches, from the western (Dead Man) to martial arts flicks (Ghost Dog) to conspiracy thrillers (The Limits Of Control). Here, Jarmusch tackles the trope-laden teen-hijacked vampire genre.

Tilda Swinton is perfect as Eve, an ageless vampire living in Tangier, immersing herself in local music and reminiscing about better, more artful times with old friend Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt). She’s noticeably more content than her estranged lover Adam (Tom Hiddleston), a depressive recluse living in the decaying ruins of Detroit (the city is a symbol of the blind destruction of beauty by ignorant “zombies”, aka humans). We ‘zombies’ have also contaminated our bodies so much that our blood is too risky to drink, driving the characters to buy the pure stuff on the black market. Besides, biting necks is “so 15th century”.

Mia Wasikowska blows through the film like a sexed-up tornado as Eve’s younger sister, giving the film its one clear plot point. The rest acts as languidly paced, mordantly witty love story between the two leads, a duo of hyper-sophisticated hepcats. Cinematographer Yorick LeSaux captures the movie’s philosophy, caressing books and instruments while providing striking nightscapes of a crumbling Detroit.

While the philosophical indulgences and dryly knowing intellectual in-jokes may prove off-putting to some, this offbeat and consciously chic essay on love, art, science and time is like a decadently rich dessert: delicious, dark, and just a bite too much.