When there’s a movie title that gets right to the point, I knew I had to check it out. And oh, my bleeding heart! What’s presented In Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is everything I wanted to see in Netflix’ Wednesday with the sexiness and gothic taken away. In this world, there are people living quietly in the shadows of our own and they have their own community. Most of them are content to leave humanity alone; but when it comes time to feed, what happens is supernatural. Lamps flicker, and the victim they choose to consume are usually folks who won’t be missed.
But when one young lady decides that killing goes against all her principles, just how she survives depends on who supports her and doesn’t. For her parents, they are aghast! They have tried everything under the moon (since the sun kills them) to make her come around, but sadly her fangs aren’t showing.
Sasha (Sara Monpetit) is the odd person out in her family. Although she shows mad skills on a music keyboard, she can’t be busking forever. I love this girl because she outshines Wednesday Addams by miles. She’s looking for a purpose in life, and thankfully she’s not ready to end hers soon. While vampires are considered immortal, the issue of morality is addressed as nobody likes to live forever.
Here, Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard) is ready to end it all because nobody respects him. His mom kind of understands, but she’s not doing enough to help. At school, everyone treats him like a loser. Although mum shows up because he got sent to the principal after killing a bat with a tennis racket, she still doesn’t get just how terrible his life has become. He could’ve been regarded as a hero, but the fact the school doesn’t condone violence is rather ironic.
One night, Sasha saw him attempting to take his life. Although he failed, curiousity gets the better of her, and she strikes up a friendship, and lets him in on her secret. She even introduces him to her family, and the only person willing to consider helping her turn him over is her aunt. What happens next is nothing new, but this delightful twist on the budding teenage romantic comedy genre goes places I would not expect. The touch of melancholy exists in this work, but ultimately, anyone who loves Jemaine Clement’s series What We Do In Shadows will gravitate toward Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person faster than a bat out of hell!
The way this motion picture handles its character development mirrors this New Zealand series. Both seek to understand the human condition. And while I like to think of Paul as a Wesley Crusher type, the fact he’s willing to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight with Sasha is adorable.
Ariane Louis-Seize’s vision is absolutely amazing. When she wrote and directed this film, it’s easy to see nothing got lost in meaning during conceptualising this world to getting it recorded on digital. Not only does she add a wicked spin on the process of bloodletting, but also, she’s not riffing on the familiar. This film could’ve gone the way of Hotel Transylvania or be like Twilight, and I’m glad it didn’t.
We’re dealing with teens who are ready to enter adulthood. The obstacles Sasha and Paul must confront is key, and in that regard, makes this movie similar to Let the Right One In. And when fans of this subgenre want something new to keep the adulation alive, this work is highly recommended for the Halloween season!
5 Stars out of 5
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Trailer
