Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is a beautifully offbeat take on teen-vampire genre, February 9
In stylish film hitting la Tournée Québec Cinéma at Studio 16, standout star Sara Montpetit plays a bloodsucker who hates the idea of killing
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person at Studio 16 as part of la Tournée Québec Cinéma
PRETERNATURALLY PALE SARA MONTPETIT is stirring buzz with her portrayal of angsty teen bloodsucker Sasha in Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person.
Fans of Quebec film will remember her from her role in Charlotte Le Bon’s fantastic 2022 flick Falcon Lake. Here, the heavy-banged Montpetit plays an undead high-school outsider who prefers to sip the juice-box-like blood baggies her parents give her than contemplate hunting down her own prey. Her fangs are coming in but she feels an aching empathy toward human life. Is there an ethical way to feed her thirst?
Montreal filmmaker Ariane Louis-Seize has already nabbed a best director prize in the Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days) section for Humanist Vampire, and it hit both TIFF and VIFF to critical acclaim. Now the film is screening this weekend on a brief stop here by la Tournée Québec Cinéma, presented by Visions Ouest Productions and l’Alliance Française. The screening is free but you have to RSVP here.
Check it out to see how both Louis-Seize and her young star have perfected a unique tonal balance that hits somewhere between teen comedy-horror and sweet coming-of-age tale—and done it with atmospheric nocturnal style to burn.
Janet Smith is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.
Related Articles
With sweeping scope, documentary at VIFF Centre blends styles to track respected Indigenous astronomer’s journey
Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way named best short, while Kamay takes Elevate prize
Joan Baez: I am a Noise draws from a vast archive that includes newly discovered home movies
A total of 46 films will be shown across six programs, including 100 Days, Motherland, Tiger by the Tail, and more
Eternal You, A Man Imagined, Black Box Diaries, nanekawâsis, and other intriguing offerings at the celebration of new nonfiction film
New DOXA Documentary Film Festival feature tells the incredible story of the Armstrong company, and how spending childhood summers there inspired McNeil’s own art-making
New showcase of cinema that inspires social change to highlight nine films from Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. at Surrey City Hall
Filmmaker Shannon Walsh turns her lens on a labyrinthian fantasy world and an all-consuming love that transcends death
Documentary film shares the story of Jacob Beaton, who is training Indigenous people to grow their own food
The countercultural icon of fringe cinema riffs the dangers of smoking, mainstream acceptance, and trigger warning in advance of his appearances at the Rio Theatre on April 25 and 26