In the age of Twilight and True Blood, it’s a near Herculean task to make vampires interesting again. Jim Jarmusch did it earlier this year, but he’s an esteemed, white-haired film genius; more impressive is young director Ana Lily Amirpour, whose debut film, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, is a gorgeous black-and-white vampire flick that received major acclaim at Sundance. From the trailer, the film looks like a sleek, impeccably mounted must-see that injects fresh blood into a comatose genre.
Set in an Iranian ghost town named Bad City, the movie follows an unnamed girl looking to sink her teeth into lonesome citizens. Amirpour indulges in a masterful mishmash of genres: beyond the shadowy noir cinematography, one can detect the cultural critiques of Iranian New Wave and a whistle-laden soundtrack reminiscent of Westerns like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. A Girl Walks is out Nov. 21.
