Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Movie Review: Bloody Beautiful, Bittersweet, and Brilliant (10/10)
Official Movie URL: https://www.h264distribution.com/en/films/distribution/humanist-vampire-seeking-consenting-suicidal-person/
Rating: 10 (on a review scale: 1 being worst, 10 being best)
Cast & Crew
Directed by: Ariane Louis-Seize
Sara Montpetit of Falcon Lake, Félix-Antoine Bénard in a standout debut, directed by Ariane Louis-Seize in her full-length feature debut.
A Blood Bag Full of Heart: A New Classic in Coming-of-Age Vampire Cinema
Foreign female vampire films have quietly delivered some of the most emotionally resonant horror of the 21st century. Think *Let the Right One In* or *A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night*. Now enter *Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person*—a film that doesn't just stand among those greats, but arguably surpasses them in tenderness, wit, and warmth. Despite the fanged premise, this isn’t about bloodlust—it’s about loneliness, agency, and the unexpected sweetness of connection.
Sasha and Paul: Vinyl, Blood, and Emotional Bandages
It’s hard not to initially compare Sasha (Sara Montpetit) to Eli or The Girl—solitary, introspective vampires drawn to emotionally wounded boys. But Sasha is different. Her empathetic heart—triggered when humans are in pain—makes feeding nearly impossible. Her family tries to help, but like many well-meaning parents, they're divided: one side enabling, the other pushing for brutal independence. When Sasha is sent to live with her cousin Denise to learn how to hunt, things shift. That’s where she meets Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard), a suicidal teen whose awkwardness and quiet kindness mirror Sasha’s internal ache. Their relationship, built on mutual darkness, becomes something luminously humane.
What Worked Well
– Sara Montpetit’s performance as Sasha: understated, magnetic
– The humor: Napoleon Dynamite with a splash of blood
– The needle drop, Brenda Lee’s “Emotions” is perfection
– Ariane Louis-Seize’s direction
– The family dynamics are a surprisingly realistic portrait of parental disagreement and teen anxiety
– Félix-Antoine Bénard is funny and likable as Paul, and yet you constantly worry about him. His performance makes you want to, like Sasha, protect him. It’s an affecting, subtle turn that anchors the entire film.
Death, Connection, and the Fear of Being Alone
The film’s emotional core lands hardest in a gut-punch moment: Paul writes a suicide note, believing he's finally found peace through his pact with Sasha. But when his mom unexpectedly returns home and sees him heading out with a friend, she smiles—believing her son is finally starting to thrive. It's a moment that devastates because we know the truth... or do we? Sasha and Paul’s final arc suggests that maybe death isn’t what Paul needed. Maybe it was for someone to see him. As Paul says, “I think people are just afraid of suffering. Or of being alone.”
And that’s what this film gets so painfully right. Underneath the vampire mythos there's a story about two people who don't want to live… until they find each other.
Keep your coffin cozy and your horror collection cursed—until next time, fiends! ⚰️📼
Paul Francis Jones - April 4 2025
