Only Lovers Left Alive is a romantic vampire tale from Jim Jarmusch. The film begins with immortal lovers Adam(Tom Hiddleston) and Eve(Tilda Swinton) in their respective cities of Tangier and Detroit. Due to a sentimental suicidal spell by Adam, Eve makes a series of exhaustive night flights to meet him. What follows appears dark and brooding but reveals itself to be patient and wryly pleasant. The film simply observes Hiddleston and Swinton interacting- playing chess, discussing art, listening to music, driving around the seedily picturesque neighborhoods of Detroit. Their vampireness is secondary, what love looks like after centuries is. Expectations rise a bit with the appearance of unstable sister Eva but what could turn into a classic vampiric blood bath hardly registers to its lead who react to this, the only "event" in the "plot", with placid resignation.
In description the film comes across genre-high-concept, in actuality it is a hang-out movie with two vampires deeply engaged with the arts and very much in love. Eerie cityscapes, a haunting score, and references galore create the most relatable and magnetic vampires seen on film in years. The chemistry between the leads and the limited supporting cast enhance this sense of cultivated isolation which we have the privilege of being invited into.
A slow, deliberate, and languidly cool film more about weathering the test of time with good books, dynamic music and a great companion than the minutia of vampire mythos or the flush of blood-driven sexual passion.
See It.
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