Out of 2024's Many Vampire Stories, Don't Let This Overlooked Indie Dramedy Pass You By

The Twilight Renaissance might be over, but that doesn’t mean that the sun has risen for vampires, forcing them to hide in their coffins in shame once again. On the contrary, 2024 was a great year for the fanged creatures, both in movies and on television. In between a great second season of Interview with the Vampire and the terrified audiences filling up movie theaters to watch Robert Eggers’ new Nosferatu, we are all putting our crucifixes and garlic necklaces away as we welcome the vamps back into our lives. But while the bloody fanfare has been reserved for bigger projects, a small, unassuming film dropped in theaters and then on Mubi, offering a fresh take on the classic myth. Do you like your vampires traumatized? Do you like them funny? Awkward? Basically, do you like them the closest thing possible to humans? Then you are going to love Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person.

The title is already a doozy, and Ariane Louis-Seize’s debut feature film more than does it justice. The French-Canadian production is actually a 2023 joint, but it only came out in the U.S. in June 2024. In October, the spookiest month of the year, it made its way to streaming via Mubi, where it now lies waiting to be discovered by bloodthirsty audiences. Except, well, maybe you should adjust your expectations a little bit concerning just how bloody you think a vampire movie should get.

That is because the protagonist of Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, young Sasha (Sara Montpetit), isn’t very well-adjusted to her role as a creature of the night. Traumatized as a little girl in what was supposed to be her first proper feeding, Sasha came of age unable to show her fangs. Much to her parents’ despair, she only feeds off of blood bags filled up by her hunting mother. However, things begin to change when she meets a suicidal teenager by the name of Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard).

‘Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person’ Is a Vampire Coming-of-Age Story

You may have noticed something peculiar in the previous paragraph: in the universe of Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, vampires can be born and age. This makes getting fangs a rite of passage for young Sasha. Sprouting fangs is almost like a first period for Sasha, a biological imperative that comes with social expectations that she isn’t necessarily willing to fulfill. After all, Sasha, unlike other vampires, feels compassion for humans and doesn’t want to harm them even though she is perfectly capable of it. Heck, she even needs it to survive! Thus, Humanist Vampire is one of a kind among vampire films, a story about growing up, dealing with expectations, and carving a place in the world for yourself.

And this doesn’t apply exclusively to Sasha. Despite its title, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person isn’t necessarily pro-suicide, at least not where it concerns its male co-protagonist. Over the course of the movie, Paul learns to find his own voice. What starts as a journey to fulfill his dying wish soon becomes something more as he and Sasha bond. By the end of the film, Paul is a completely different person from the meek boy he is in the first few scenes, and so is Sasha.

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There is also something to be said about how the movie can be read as a treaty on neurodivergence. Sasha is diagnosed by a series of vampire doctors as having post-traumatic stress disorder and too much of a soft spot for her prey, something that is unthinkable for vampires. And, throughout the film’s 90-minute runtime, she doesn’t learn how to become someone that she is not. Instead, she learns how to navigate the world with her own set of rules. It’s an empowering message, one that can be pretty hard to find in horror movies.

This Vampire Indie Comedy Is the Most Adorable Horror Movie of the Year

Granted, calling Humanist Vampire a horror movie might be a little misguiding. Though the film has its tense, spooky, and even gory moments, it is much more an indie dramedy than anything else, complete with a certain twee-ness that is characteristic of the genre. Seriously, there are a handful of scenes in which the setting and the costume design make it seem like we’re watching Wes Anderson’s remake of Let the Right One In. However, that shouldn’t be seen as a problem. Instead, it is something that fits the story like a glove, making Louis-Seize’s film one of the most adorable of 2024.

It is hard to shake off incredibly cute images such as little Sasha drinking from a blood bag as if she’s a little kid with a box of orange juice. It is also hard not to fall for the dynamic between her and Paul. While it is your choice whether to see the movie as a romance or as the story of two lonely kids finally finding a friend, it is a lovely watch nonetheless. The movie is veritable proof that vampires aren’t just put in the world to terrify and devour us. So, yes, by all means, go get spooked by Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok before the year ends. But after you’re done with the scares, save some room in your heart for Sasha and Paul.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is available to stream on Mubi in the U.S.

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