Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Writer/director: Emily Harris, Icon Film Distribution.
There’s not much blood loss in Carmilla, and it equally lacks a big bite for what is a vampire movie. This is probably due to the filmmakers staying true to the source material, as much of the vampire lore post-dates it.
The gothic-style production is changeable and eerie due, in part, to candle-lit rooms, unsteady flickering lights, threatening background thunder and unsettling winds. The unhurried lingering shots build on the anticipation, while the hints of sapphic enticement, and the subsequent judgment is clearly and unemotionally austere. Hearts are at stake in this supernatural drama.
A wistful teenager, Lara (Hannah Rae) is also inquisitive. She lets her dreams carry her into a different world, living in the countryside in northern England with her father (Greg Wise), who is kind, but not hands-on when it comes to parenting. Lara, 15, is cared for mostly by her governess Miss Fontaine (Jessica Raine), a stern disciplinarian. Tension is obvious, at times, but when her lips curl there’s a suggestion of concealed ardour.
Then one night there’s a commotion inside their home that brings change into their lives. After a carriage crashes nearby, the sole survivor a beautiful girl, Carmilla (Devrim Lingnau) is brought to the house apparently suffering from amnesia. The girl is Lara’s age. After taking such pains to keep Lara chaste and docile, has the family let a serpent in their midst?
Miss Fontaine certainly finds a match in Carmilla, who challenges her authority.
Living in total isolation in her family home, Lara struggles to find an outlet for her burgeoning sexuality, and is enthralled by the mysterious Carmilla. The pair strike-up a passionate relationship. Then Lara becomes pale and tired-looking, as other girls in the county mysteriously begin to fall ill.
A reinterpretive adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1871 vampire novella, Harris skilfully moulds the text into a story of oppression and isolation.
Carmilla releases on digital on August 11.
