Carmilla (2019)

Carmilla: Directed by Emily Harris. With Hannah Rae, Devrim Lingnau, Jessica Raine, Tobias Menzies. An atmospheric, coming-of-age love story steeped in eerie mystery and inspired by the gothic novel of the same name.

“So yeah. I have no idea why they used Carmilla as the u0026quot;basisu0026quot; for this film. It trades the baggage of eroticism and exploitation from many previous films and tames it down into a feminist lesbian love story. Iu0026#39;m not saying that a feminist lesbian love story is a bad thing or that it shouldnu0026#39;t be told. Everyone has a right to be heard.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI came into this cold merely because of the title and to say the least I was left underwhelmed. Maybe the filmmakers had the purest of motives I. E. u0026quot;We shall take this gothic novel and rehabilitate it to remove the stigma of exploitation and objectificationu0026quot;. But it ends up seeming like a cynical exploitation of those previous films just for the purpose of making money.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are some redeeming qualities to this film. It looks absolutely stunning. A real visual treat. The acting is not bad. The score isnu0026#39;t terrible.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut what it doesnu0026#39;t really have is a heart. The u0026quot;love storyu0026quot; is rather banal and honestly boring. Direction is very stiff. The writing is honestly bland and uninspiring. There isnu0026#39;t anything to make me feel any emotion except irritation. A perfect example of style over substance.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn short itu0026#39;s much too tame and contrived. In fact there isnu0026#39;t really much vampire in this vampire movie. I think what they were trying to say had something to do with u0026quot;Carmilla was persecuted for being a lesbianu0026quot;. But who knows? The exact same ending could be the work of someone trying to say lesbianism is evil.”