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VIFF Film Review - Humanist Vampire (2023)

Still image of Sasha and Paul looking at each other in Sasha's bedroom from the film Humanist Vampire Seeking Consensual Suicidal Person

If you’re a fan of vampire movies, you’ll want to see “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person” at VIFF. It’s a really interesting take on the genre, as we typically don’t see vampires that are ethical. The story starts off with Sasha as a young vampire child celebrating her birthday and a big milestone of when her fangs are supposed to come in, but they don’t. Her parents are worried that something is wrong with their little vampire so they take her to see a vampire physician.  It turns out she has compassion for humans that are dying instead of a blood thirst. Sasha’s mother wants to push her to become the hunter she should be and worries they aren’t raising their daughter to be independent. Her father, on the other hand, has more patience and wants his daughter to develop her blood thirst in her own time.

Fast forward to her young adulthood and she’s still drinking blood from a bag and her parents are still fighting over the fact that she isn’t willing or able to hunt her own food. In act of desperation Sasha’s parents send her to live with a cousin to learn how to fend for herself and if she doesn’t start to hunt on her own, she risks losing her own life. While she continues to wrestle with her moral dilemma she encounters Paul, a young man who is looking to end his life. Their paths have crossed for a reason and Sasha is then driven by a different motive to fulfill her destiny on her own terms.

I absolutely loved this film. Sasha is the epitome of an angsty teen, reminiscent of Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice, but with a vampire twist! The dark humour in this film is perfection and it was really neat seeing a story about vampires that do age (but slowly) as we watch Sasha grow from a child to a teen. If you enjoyed watching vampire shows like “What We Do In The Shadows”, you won’t want to miss this at VIFF.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is screening at the 42nd Vancouver International Film Festival which runs September 28 – October 8.

Tickets and info at viff.org

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