The name of this movie sounds like a song because it is one. A song that gets cleverly used in the movie twice in very different scenes to highlight very different moods. It’s also very appropriate to this story of dependency-based love.
And yes, that probably describes most of familial affection, but in the case of the three siblings in this novel, it is heightened. To dramatic movie-worthy heights. The three are Fugit (always nice to see a kid star who becomes a credible adult actor) and two actors I didn’t recognize, who nevertheless did a very good job. Fugit’s Dwight and his sister, jessie, are the older by far siblings who are stuck taking care of their younger brother. The younger brother has a peculiar condition that (although the word itself is never spoken) is basically vampirism. He is a weakly bone-think creatures, all knuckles and vertebrae, who comes to something like life only after drinking blood. It isn’t much of a life for he can barely gets around and never leaves their house, but it’s something. Something his older siblings have decided to be worth killing for. And so, they do. Dwight goes out and brings home tramps and hobos to drain for blood. He is a reluctant killer, not a devoted unquestionable believer like his sister. Dwight longs to get away, to free himself of his familial bonds, he dreams of the ocean and discusses his dreams with a local prostitute – the only person he can talk to. He is a classic tragic character stuck in an impossible situation. And Fugit embodies him very well. His sister with her fundamentalist devotion is an unflinching fanatic holding the family together. But even her (vampire) brother longs for a different life. When he tries to make friends, a tragedy strikes. The nightworld isn’t meant to bleed into the real one and vice versa. Strongly reminiscent of Let Me In (Let The Right One In), this quiet character driven story hinges almost solely upon the mood and the writing and ends up working very well. Nicely shot and strongly acted, it conveys an oppressing sense of desperation that love and obligation can force upon people. Family…the heaviest chains of all. The movie has a timeless look, save for one reference, it can take place anywhere during the recent decades. There are no iPhones, nothing new or flashy. It’s trapped in time the way its characters are. Slow. Pensive. Poignant. It may not work for everyone. Maybe not for people used to the Marvel Universe-style of fast-paced bombastic entertainment. But for fans of quiet dark psychological stories, it is certainly well worth checking out. Just depends on what makes your heart beat.
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