Only Lovers Left Alive

Yes, Only Lovers Left Alive is another vampire movie. Yes, the characters are very pale and old and romantic. Yes, it is very much full of clichés and stereotypes. However, it is also wickedly smart, beautifully shot, filled to the brim with talent and full of cultural witticisms.

Tom Hiddleston is Adam, Tilda Swinton is Eve and Jim Jarmusch is a genius. This is a director that tells us all we need to know without doubting our intelligence. He allows us to fall into the depths of the film without worrying about a perfectly neat beginning, middle and end. He even stops his characters from following tedious and predictable patterns, because after all, they're too old for that.

This is a movie for film lovers and pop culture enthusiasts. It is a vampire film that takes advantage of its time span; cultural references dating back hundreds of years can be found at every corner. Only Lovers Left Alive does not focus on blood and gore, it is not a thriller nor a horror, it doesn't even truly focus on the world of vampires. Instead, Jarmusch studies the eternal, he explores the quiet, perhaps boring, every day life of a modern, intelligent and ancient being who has, quite literally, seen it all.

• Sinann Fetherston.

You can find a full review at MoviefiedNYC.

Jim Jarmusch's delicious new comedy is a vampire movie unlike any other. It's set in the present but forget those "Twilight" sagas; these are vampires for the art-house crowd, smart, funny and yes, sexy creatures of the night, (the whole film takes place at night; there isn't a single shot in daylight), and I was crazy about them. Indeed Jarmusch has fashioned a masterpiece about a couple of lonely people whose only solace is each other, doomed if you like to be together for all eternity or until one of them gets a stake or a wooden bullet in the heart or drinks some 'bad blood'; (I loved the subtle AIDS metaphor; be careful who you bite). Adam, (tall, dark and sexy Tom Hiddleston), and Eve, (a mesmerizing Tilda Swinton), have been married to each other, several times it would appear, over the centuries but living separate lives, he in Detroit as a reclusive musician, she in Tangier where she has another old vampire for a friend. He is Christopher Marlowe, (yes that Christopher Marlowe), and he's played by John Hurt with a twinkle in his eye. It's when Eve visits Adam in Detroit, flying by night, (in a plane; what did you expect - bat-wings?), that all hell breaks loose in the shapely form of Eve's sexy sister, (a terrific Mia Wasikowska), who can't keep her fangs to herself. As you would expect from Jarmusch this is funny, intelligent and off-the-wall. Hiddleston proves to be a highly dapper comedian while Swinton is superb as Eve, getting all she can out of a life she knows is going to go on forever. Unmissable.

One knows that a Jim Jarmusch movie about vampires is not going to be like any other vampire film. In fact it would be unkind to class this as a vampire movie. Only Lovers Left Alive is a highly stylized and atmospheric film bemoaning the passing of the great rock n roll and Hippy era. Here we have a vampire couple (Swinton & Hiddleston - both excellent and perfectly cast) living an isolated life in an abandoned house in Detroit, USA. Hiddleston used to be a famous rock n roll artist who has become a recluse collecting old guitars and records. They survive by purchasing blood samples from a corrupt doctor. We also have one of their old vampire friends (John Hurt) living in Tangiers where the blood is specially pure. Things take an unexpected turn when Swinton's mischievous sister (Mia Wasikowska) visits them. Only Lovers Left Alive has cult film written all over it. The music is great too and blends perfectly with the atmosphere. Essential for Jarmusch fans and recommended to others too!

In a world of vampires, Adam (Tom Hiddleston) is a reclusive musician with a helper Ian (Anton Yelchin). Eve (Tilda Swinton) finds old friend Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt). Eve reconnects with Adam. They are both evolved beyond their bloodlust. They roam the deserted streets of Detroit. However they are interrupted by her wild little sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska).

It's an interesting take on the vampires. It's certainly a nice break from all the young adult vampire fares. It's got Jim Jarmusch's style of a slow deliberate indie. Tilda makes a great vampire. Tom Hiddleston fits quite nicely with Tilda. This is not a big studio churning out another vampire movie. It's moody. It has a few funny touches. It's outside the box. Mia doesn't come in until after halfway through the movie. The first half has this dreamy ethereal quality about it. I'm not sure Mia is good at playing the wild child. She is very much playing a spoiled child but she needs to be more dangerous. The movie needs to see her violence. Maybe Jarmusch thinks that actual violence would conflict with the tone of the movie. I just felt that could have been better.

From the moment I heard that Jim Jarmusch was working on a vampire film I was intrigued and was desperate to see what the result would be. It did not disappoint for a second.

Enchantingly atmospheric, it centres around Adam and Eve, two age-old vampires whose marriage has endured centuries of humanity's slap-dash efforts at building worthwhile civilisations.

It strikes a very unusual tone for a film in this genre, although fans of Jarmusch will be used to a certain amount of genre-straddling and refusal to make easily pigeon-holed films. Don't come into this expecting a plot driven film, or especially not a CGI gore-fest akin to a lot of the lazily produced horror/fantasy material that seems so abundant at the moment. The focus is much more on creating an authentic feel and intriguing characters. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are virtually infallible in convincingly playing world-weary characters who have lived through plagues, inquisitions and the development of a flawed modern society.

Mia Wasikowska's arrival as Eve's volatile sister Ava is foreseen with a palpable sense of foreboding, providing an uneasy counterpart to Adam and Eve's relative level-headedness, and steps up the stakes for the final act.

John Hurt also deserves a mention for his typically assured and accomplished performance, albeit in a relatively small part.

Overall, an extremely adept piece of filmmaking, which has revitalised a genre which I, for one, was about ready to call time on.