Starring: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin, Mia Wasikowska
Director: Jim Jarmusch

There’s something very old fashioned about this take on the Vampire genre. This is a more classical love story opposed to the modern popular culture of the Twilight movies. Twilight had more teenage appeal and Only Lovers Left Alive is definitely aimed at intellectual adults.

Our loved up couple are aptly named Adam and Eve. Adam (Tom Hiddleston) has been around for centuries and now resides alone in an old deserted mansion in the outskirts of Detroit. He has surrounded himself with an assortment of classic musical instruments and writes his own brand of depressive suicidal music (Cold Play eat your heart out) which he records on old fashioned tapes. Adam even refers to it as funeral music. Despite being around for hundreds of years his favourite musical period seems to be the 1950’s and 1960’s of which he has an impressive vinyl record collection. Adam still hasn’t embraced the twenty first century and is quite a technophobe.

His Vampire wife Eve (Tilda Swinton) is currently living in Tangiers looking after the one and only Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt) reputed to be the reals brains behind many of Shakespeare’s greatest works while also being a vampire. Eve calls Adam on her iPhone to get him to join her in having a conversation on Skype and fortunately Adam had wired up an old TV screen and an antique computer resembling something from a Heath Robinson illustration, with which to Skype back with.

The only regular contact Adam has in his American habitat is with his hippy gopher (an understated performance from Anton Yelchin) who finds him valuable collector’s items such as Gibson guitars and with Dr Watson, (Jeffrey Wright) who works at the blood bank and is the supplier for the ‘good-stuff’ as Adam and Eve call it.

As with most Vampires Adam is experiencing a great deal of depression and angst which prompts Eve to catch the next flight to American to be with her love. When the two reunite there is much sexual tension in the air which is very believable but then we don’t get to see this chemistry in full ‘tearing your clothes off’ frenzy. However, the status quo seems to be restored until the arrival of Eve’s troublesome sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska, Alice in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland) who is also a bloodsucker and upsets the applecart.

I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed in this film. It started off with much promise with some atmospheric shots of Tom Hiddleston lounging around on the morning after (or is it the evening after with Vampires?) and a vinyl record playing on an old turntable. This gave the impression of a slow start which would eventually unfold into an interesting story with maybe a few scary scenes to make your heart miss a beat. Unfortunately the story doesn’t really go anywhere. There were moments when it reminded me of Tony Scott’s 1982 Vampire thriller ‘The Hunger’ especially when the couple visit a nightclub looking extremely cool in their outfits and shades, reminiscent of ‘The Hunger’s’ opening scene with David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. But alas the film didn’t get any more exciting. The only time it did show signs of making me raise my eyebrows and nod my head, was the introduction of Mia Wasikowska as Eve’s rebel sister but her appearance was all too brief.

A very arty piece of cinema from Jim Jarmusch who also wrote the story but a little bit self-indulgent.


Certificate 15
In cinemas now