Tom Hiddleston as Adam and Tilda Swinton as Eve in ‘Only Lovers Left Alive.’ Photo: Sandro Kopp, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
By Megan Bianco
In an era when the over-saturated vampire genre has been run into the ground—thanks to Twilight, “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries,” to name a few—one of film’s most acclaimed independent filmmakers provides his own take on the now-stock character.
Writer/director Jim Jarmusch’s latest film, Only Lovers Left Alive reunites him with character actress Tilda Swinton and introduces Marvel favorite Tom Hiddleston in another dark role to add to his portfolio.
In 2012 Detroit, a vampire musician named Adam (Hiddleston) has been feeling depressed and uninspired with his music and his life. When his longtime lover and fellow vampire Eve (Swinton) visits from Tangiers, their romance is revived.
The reunion is rudely interrupted by Eve’s younger sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska), who crashes at Adam’s apartment and tries to seduce his human assistant Ian (Anton Yelchin). John Hurt and Jeffrey Wright co-star.
Best known for his episodic tales of ordinary people in such films as Night on Earth (1991) and Coffee & Cigarettes (2003), Jarmusch takes one of the most popular supernatural creatures and provides a new take, minus action and gore.
Only Lovers Left Alive has some intriguing actors playing interesting characters who just happen to survive on blood and spend time pondering how much the world will continue to change around them. For fans worried Jarmusch is slumming it with this one, he’s actually done the opposite and will likely gain a broader audience in the process.