Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant, dir. Ariane Louis-Seize) x VIFF 2023.
This is a surprisingly fresh take on teen vampires in the form of a low-key Quebecois coming-of-age indie comedy about trying to consume human blood and find victims ethically. Sara Montpetit and Félix-Antoine Bénard star as a 68-year-old undead woman in the body of a teenage girl and a depressed high schooler with suicidal tendencies. They form a sweet but strange bond as they try to earnestly help each other achieve their unconventional goals in life. Its exploration of the more mundane but annoying parts of vampiric life makes for an altogether humorous endeavour.
Screened at the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival as part of the Altered States series and screening again at the VIFF Centre from Oct. 21–30.
Martin's movie Queen of Bones will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival next month!! Not to the general public, but as an Industry Select for distributors. IMDB lists the release date as 10th September 2023! (in Canada, probably at the TIFF)
Two of Benedict's projects will have their premiere at film festivals this year.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar will premiere at the Venice Film Festival this year. It's 40 mins long and out of competition. "It's a small masterpiece. Wes Anderson in [his] purest state." No actors are confirmed to attend due to the on-going strike.
The End We Start From will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this year. Benedict has a supporting role and is a producer, along with his wife, Sophie Hunter.
Wenders crafts such a fully realized interior world from a singular character's point-of-view expressed cinematically through small moments of pure tranquillity. It's an aspirational film of meaningful observations appreciating the natural beauty of daily life and celebrating the little things we take for granted.
Vamp - I really enjoyed the first half of the film. It's funny, well-paced, and I was actually rooting for the characters to make the sale.
Second half is where things fell apart for me - the film loses its way (and wit) and becomes a muddled mess. I think they could cut about 30 minutes from the entire film and tightened the 2nd half pacing.
The cast is great, Emily and Andy are definitely the standouts for me. Goes without saying that Catherine is gem and Chloe Coleman....look out!
Chris impressed me. He plays sleazy so well. His character is such a bro (and very sweary) - that Boston accent/attitude definitely came in handy. I won't spoil it, but the scene where's he's wearing that pill costume - yeah, you'll have to see it. 😆
Pain Hustlers wasn't my favourite of the 3 films I screened yesterday, but it's a fun watch.