Vampire genre has been explored and elaborated in a lot of different ways in literature and film. What else is left there in it to explore? Ana Lily Amirpour's minimalist vampire flick in farsi has a couple of things going for it. One is moody, beautiful night time b & w cinematography. The second is Sheila Vand who plays a mysterious young woman. She listens to 80s pop songs in her dark basement apartment, skates in the empty streets at night and happens to be a vampire.
There is Arashi (Arashi Marandi) and his junkie father and Atti (Mozan Marnò) the prostitute storylines that intertwine with the girl's, but who really cares? She listens to Lionel Richie and she ends up with a big fluffy cat that belonged to her victim! The film is a sly take on Iranian society, being a lonely, young, moody person. There is nothing much going on and substance is lacking, but I can't help being pulled in by the film's seductiveness.
