Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

“How can you've live for so long and still not get it? This self obsession is a waste of living.”

          Imagine being able to live forever. Think about all the things in the world you can accomplish like perfecting playing all the instruments you can want, learning all the languages of the world, getting to read thousands of books, and so on. Yet, think about how lonely you might get after a while and how depressing the world gets to be. You have seen decades, hundreds of years go by and humanity only changing for the worse. Your faith in the world and humans is just completely crippled. Only Lovers Left Alive somewhat explores this idea with their two vampire characters Adam and Eve.

          Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton) are vampires living in different countries. They have been married for hundreds of years. Adam has been depressed. He has had it with humans. Adding to his depression is living in Detroit in an old house with no one else around. He has a guy named Ian (Anton Yelchin) who comes over to his place and sells him vintage guitars. Adam records music and has Ian release it. His house is an analogue world with old recording equipment and records.

          Eve is in Tangiers. She calls Adam one night. They video message each other and Eve notices he looks depressed. She decides to come out and visit him. Their time together is peaceful and quiet. He takes her for drives around the desolate city. They listen to music and talk about some things they have been through during their centuries together.

          Out of the blue Eve’s young sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) comes into town. Adam has no patience for her. She is the definition of a wild child with no thought for others. She makes Eve and Adam take her out along with Ian. The night does not end well. Adam literally throws Ava out of his house. The couple has to leave for Tangiers after that night.

         Only Lovers Left Alive is the kind of movie that does not really have a plot and it moves very slowly. When movies are like this I generally do not like them but with Only Lovers Left Alive I liked it. I think I liked it because Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton were very good together. I have not really seen Swinton in very much I did not realize how good of an actress she is. I really liked Eve and her whole demeanor she was carefree because she has seen it all. Tom Hiddleston brooding was beautiful. Even though Only Lovers Left Alive was slow and really did not have too much of a plot as far as I could tell, I enjoyed it. It was different and it was definitely not your typical vampire movie. They did not constantly talk about the centuries they have been alive for and all the things they have done. Their past was mentioned briefly because they both lived through it together it mentioned in normal conversation. Also the whole vampire thing was not thrown in your face either. you knew they were vampires because they went to sleep during the day and got a supply of blood but that was never made to be a big deal until Ava came around. Only Lovers Left Alive is worth seeing because it is different and for the pairing of Tilda Swinton and Tom Hilddleston.