Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2013

Think the vampire genre is played out? Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Interview with a Vampire) begs to differ, and backs it up with this mesmerizing, artfully tattered film about a 200-year-old vagabonding mother/daughter team (a fantastic, cast-against-type Gemma Arterton and an impeccable, highly believable Saoirse Ronan). Mom, a hooker, favors the sex & violence thing, while the forever 16-year-old daughter takes a kinder, gentler approach. It’s a well-told, satisfying and stylish story that unfolds gradually, often shifting between the two women and times past. Look at it as an antidote to Twilight.