Kicking Blood is a movie that takes a unique spin on the vampire genre, bringing a little bit of new to the well loved lore.
Kicking Blood is a movie with a unique take on the vampire genre. The main character, Anna, is a vampire who is very clearly bored with living forever. A chance meeting with a human who is a recovering alcoholic changes the path she is on, as she begins to admire him for his strength.
The vampires in this film are different than viewers usually see because they are young and scrappy. They aren’t rich higher ups in society, but rather they find themselves scavenging the items off their victims so that they can live. Anna is different because she has a job that she actually enjoys going to, even if she is over eternal life.
The story is captivating from start to finish, and it is easy to become invested in Anna and her struggle to decide if she wants to live or die. The small cast has great chemistry which makes the story believable enough to be captivated by it. The length is perfect, clocking in at just over an hour, making it more than worth the time it takes to watch it.
About Kicking Blood
Fusing the grittiness of George Romero’s Martin with the sly theatricality of Stuart Gordon’s early films (Re-Animator, From Beyond), Blaine Thurier’s Kicking Blood reimagines vampire mythology by transplanting it to the bohemian world Thurier has satirized since he began making films. Instead of the usual desiccated, tormented aristocrats with impossibly innocent victims, Thurier’s undead are hipster scavengers and swingers, their victims luckless hangers-on and drunks.
Vampire Anna (Alanna Bale) is disappointed with eternal life. She’s less guilt-stricken than tired — tired of the people she preys on, tired of having to say goodbye to people she likes. Her one mortal friend, Bernice (Rosemary Dunsmore), is deathly ill, and a chance encounter with suicidal alcoholic Robbie (Luke Bilyk) has only exacerbated her weariness. Her fellow bloodsuckers see humans as food with an annoying tendency to talk back, but Anna is perplexed and even inspired by human foibles — specifically Robbie’s determination to kick booze and Bernice’s determination to live and die on her own terms.
Kicking Blood played at TIFF 2021.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for almost ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association, Hollywood Critics Association, and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.