Byzantium fails to give the vampire genre the infusion of new blood it desperately needs.

If Graham Greene started to sketch out the idea for a vampire story on the back of a napkin but got bored with it and handed it off to a staff writer from “Eastenders” to finish, you’d probably end up with something a lot like “Byzantium”, Neil Jordan’s return to the Vampire genre.

Clara and Eleanor, a vampire mother and daughter have been on the run for two hundred years from The Brotherhood, a shadowy vampire sect who don’t permit women to become vampires and, if they do, certainly don’t allow them to create further vampires. Fleeing London after their secret is discovered and finding themselves homeless, Clara sets to work in the oldest and only profession she has ever known and meets Noel, a recently bereaved mummy’s boy who has inherited the Byzantium, a run-down hotel on the south coast of England.  Seeing an opportunity to exploit Noel’s loneliness and gullibility, she quickly dominates the weak-willed Noel and transforms the hotel into a makeshift brothel. Meanwhile, Eleanor’s growing attraction to a local boy threatens to destroy the bond between mother and daughter which has lasted more than 200 years and Clara’s extreme approach to keeping their secret threatens to draw the attention of The Brotherhood straight to them.

This is a brooding, melancholy film saddled with an uneven cast and some poor story choices. Essentially we get two stories for the price of one: the story of Clara, and subsequently Eleanor’s transformation into vampires during the Napoleonic era and the present day struggle to stay hidden. In all, we see and get to understand too little about The Brotherhood who have a code they live by which determines what kind of people they can hunt and kill. The notion of a group of vampires as keepers of justice and retribution is intriguing and worth exploring but instead we get the story of Clara and Eleanor. Had this film swapped the A and B stories around, it probably would have turned out a lot better: the story of The Brotherhood told against the backdrop of them tracking down two renegade female vampires.

Gemma Arterton fails to convince as the ruthless elder vampire Clara, playing her more like a brassy, mouthy landlady from a downmarket Queen Vic than a skilled and stealthy centuries-old predator. Saoirse Ronan, on the other hand, is magnificent as the contemplative, quieter Eleanor and she does a great deal to lift this film from the doldrums and make it watchable. Caleb Landry Jones as Frank provides a quirky, soulful counterpart to Eleanor’s moribund worldview and gives her a reason to believe there may be a better life away from her single-minded mother. Sam Riley and Thure Lindhardt are suitably creepy as Brotherhood agents Darvell and Werner while Jonny Lee Miller provides a memorable cameo in the Napoleonic flashbacks as The Captain.

Neil Jordan deserves some credit for attempting to bring a touch of the Gothic back to the vampire genre and “Byzantium” is a handsome looking film. The town of Hastings, where much of Byzantium was shot, brings more emotion and depth to the film than Gemma Arterton does and the exterior locations are used to great effect, especially scenes of a waterfall running crimson with blood. There’s an attempt to capture the feel of the old Hammer films but the mundane, urban elements of the plot undermine the whole endeavour.

It doesn’t give the vampire genre the infusion of new blood it desperately needs, but at least it lets enough claret flow to wash away a bit more of the idea that vampires are needy, mumbling pasty-faced Emos who sparkle in the sunlight.

byzantium review
Score 5/10


Hi there! If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up to get new posts sent straight to your inbox?

Sign up to receive a weekly digest of The Craggus' latest posts.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

logo

Related posts

Home Alone (1990) Review

Home Alone (1990) Review

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals! Like the previous year’s “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, “Home Alone” was written by the prolific John Hughes and although they’re set in different parts of Illinois, it’s a nice thought that the Griswolds and the McAllisters actually only...

Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) Review

Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) Review

Time flies when you're having fun and Sonic The Hedgehog makes its ninety-nine minutes fly by Despite its troubled (and very publicly delayed) journey to the big screen, “Sonic The Hedgehog” has lost none of its momentum as it races in multiplexes with a lot of heart, humour and a...

Sisu (2023) Review

Sisu (2023) Review

Sisu reminds us how Nazis should be treated. Every now and then, a film comes along that forgoes nuance in favour of sheer, unrelenting audacity. Sisu, a blistering slice of pulp action from writer-director Jalmari Helander, roars onto the screen as if it has a vendetta against subtlety...

Borderlands (2024) Review

Borderlands (2024) Review

With some films you need to decide if your glass of piss wash is half full or half empty. I went into the Borderlands movie with no prior knowledge of Borderlands (beyond the vague awareness it existed). I’ve never played any of the games and know nothing of its lore. I also knew...

Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (2001) Review

Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone (2001) Review

Like the sword of Gryffindor from the sorting hat, SweetieG returns to reflect on Harry Potter's 20th Anniversary. Hello cupcakes, remember me?  I know, I know!!  It’s been a while. Anyway, now that I’m back I want to talk to you about “Harry Potter”. Twenty years ago today...

Kraven The Hunter (2024) Review

Kraven The Hunter (2024) Review

Kraven the Hunter skips over his Newsround and Countryfile days and gets straight to the supervillainy. No studio in the history of movie making has managed to establish the kind of track record that Sony has in its handling of its Spider-Man-less live action Spider-Man Universe...

Promising Young Woman (2021) Review

Promising Young Woman (2021) Review

Promising Young Woman delivers on its promise - and then some. A grounded and consequential revenge thriller, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN lures you in with its apparent vulnerability but it’s hiding an emotional sucker punch that’s likely to take your breath away. Cassie (Carey Mulligan), a...

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Review

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Review

Marvel achieve the impossible and credibly make the personification of America a good guy Rejected multiple times for military service during World War II, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top-secret programme aimed at creating the ultimate soldier. When his qualities put him at the...