2013 Only Lovers Left Alive

• Directed by Jim Jarmusch
• Written by Jim Jarmusch, Marion Bessay
• Stars Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yeltsin, Jeffrey Wrigt, John Hurt
• Run Time: 2 Hours, 3 Minutes
• Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkeWhokaPPs

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

If you wonder what the life of old vampires might be like, this is your chance. It’s very low on action, but we found that to be a feature, not a bug. This was our second viewing, and we both liked it even more this time around.

Spoilery Synopsis

Eve sits in her cluttered room and listens to 1960s music. Elsewhere, so does Adam. 

Later, Adam has another musician over to his apartment. Adam collects antique guitars, and the other man is Ian, who buys things for Adam. Adam mentions seeing an old-time musician playing, but then corrects himself by saying, “Yeah, on YouTube.” Adam really wants to make music, but he’s super reclusive, which complicates things. He tells Ian he wants a bullet made of wood, and he has some very specific requirements. “It’s for… a project.” Adam is clearly hiding things from Ian. 

Eve walks through a middle-eastern town and stops in a cafe. She greets Bilal, who works there. She asks how “He” is, and Bilal talks about keeping “his” secrets, and hers as well. Old man Christopher Marlowe comes in, although he doesn’t want the name said aloud. He was a famous author four hundred years ago. He’s very, very old. She jokes about causing chaos by going public with their secret. He gives her a bag containing bottled blood, the good stuff.

Adam leaves the house dressed like a surgeon, and it’s clear he lives in a very abandoned area of Detroit. He parks and goes into the hospital, wearing a surgical mask. He gets into the blood bank and scares Dr. Watson, who works there. He’s been expecting Adam. Watson takes a bundle of cash and hands over a bunch of blood in Thermoses.

Everyone takes a break and drinks their blood. Adam, Eve, and Christopher are all vampires! Eve picks up her recent-model iPhone and calls Adam, who answers on an antique wireless phone. They do a very weird video call on his cobbled together vintage equipment; she’s his wife. He’s been depressed lately and thinking a lot about death. She agrees to come and see Adam, but traveling is hard for their kind. 

Adam records some music, and he’s got a lot of equipment, new and old; he’s kinda stuck in the past. Some men come to the door, but he doesn’t answer. Ian brings the wooden bullet that Adam wanted. Adam whines about the rock-n-roll fanboy kids coming to his door; they know where he lives, which he doesn’t like. 

Christopher tells Eve that he had a dream about her sister, Ava. They talk about Adam; when Christopher wrote “Hamlet” he should have used Adam as a role model. 

Eve travels by jet at night and arrives at Adam’s house in Detroit. He plays her his latest music, like what he used to play with Schubert. Adam used to love scientists but not so much after what happened to Darwin and Tesla. She has the ability to tell how old something is just by touching it. He takes her through the abandoned neighborhoods of Detroit. It’s all very depressing, which fuels Adam’s mood. 

They go back to the house, and Eve has made them O-negative popsicles; he didn’t even realize his freezer worked. He plays some old music for her, but then the power goes out. We see that Adam has built a special generator using technology way beyond anything else; he’s not a complete Luddite after all. He also admits that he had a dream about her sister, Ava. 

Adam goes out for more blood, and Eve finds his pistol and wooden bullet. She knows that it’s newly made. She confronts him when he gets home, and he blames it on his fear of what humanity is doing to itself. She reiterates the benefits of immortality, like nature and dancing. 

The two return home after a drive and find Ava is there. It’s been 87 years, and Adam still holds a grudge. She stays over, and Adam isn’t a fan of having a houseguest. She’s very pushy, and mentions that she heard some of his music in an underground club in L.A. He swears all his music is private. 

Ava insists that the three of them go out to a club for some music. They meet up with Ian, and Adam overhears Ian’s conversation with another man; something shady is going on. They pass around a flask of blood, and Ian says he wants to try some, thinking it’s alcohol. Adam snatches it away before he can 

Then they hear Adam’s music playing at the club. Adam wants to leave– right now. All of them, Ian included, go back to Adam’s house. Adam and Eve go to bed, leaving Ian with Ava. 

The following evening, Eve tells Adam that Ava needs to go, before it’s too late. Eve goes downstairs to find that Ava has totally drained Ian and trashed the place as well. “How many times?” demands Eve. Adam throws Ava and all her stuff out the front door. Eve and Adam then put the body in the car. 

They dump the body in an acid pit in an empty garage. The body is gone to skeleton before it even sinks.

Eve books two tickets back to Tangier; it’s time to leave town. When they get there, they head to Christopher Marlowe’s cafe, but they find it closed. Bilal answers the door, and he knows Adam. Christopher is not doing well. The old man says he got some bad blood, contaminated. “Avoid the hospital here,” he warns. Christopher makes it clear that he wrote all Shakespeare’s stuff and just used Shakespeare’s name as a cover. He grouses about Shakespeare being a hack. The old man dies peacefully a moment later. 

“What are we gonna do?” They ask each other simultaneously. Eva goes off to get Adam “a present,” and while she’s gone, Adam hears a band in a tiny bar. He likes the music and the singing. Eve comes back with a musical instrument for Adam. 

Unfortunately, they’re both starving; they were counting on Christopher’s connections to keep them fed. They watch a couple of lovers on the rooftop and know what’s coming. “We’re just gonna turn them, right?” Adam agrees, and says he gets the girl. 

Dinner time!

Brian’s Commentary

What kind of “contaminants” would kill a vampire? 

Vampires are immortal. Most vampires, therefore, would be very old, on average. This movie is one of the few to show what realistic “old” vampires would be like, always struggling to keep up with technology and keep up with social things and just keep interested in living. 

The scenes in and around Detroit are perfect for the movie; I’m sure that’s where all the vampires hang out in reality. There’s no real action at all; it’s just vampires being vampires and what that really means today. 

You’ll either love the details of vampire life or you’ll be bored to death with the lack of action, I don’t see much in between. I liked it a lot. 

Kevin’s Commentary

We get some glimpses of their powers—information by touch, low-key telepathy, super speed, immortality, and, of course, drinking blood and fangs. But it’s interesting how low-action it is. It’s mostly just old ones going about their nights and letting us see how they live. I thought this was very cool and very well acted.