Humanist Vampire A Dark Comedic Coming-of-Age Film

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is the complete title for this dark comedic movie gem. Directed by Ariane Louis-Seize (Wild Skin 2016), the completely addictive French film has received plenty of praise since its release to film festivals in 2023. With a USA release on June 21st, 2024 fans of all things coming of age in a fantasy setting should be very happy with this.

Mom Georgette, Dad Aurélien, and two sisters Sasha and Denise live in suburbia. Still under the cover of darkness, the small unit hunts and stores blood in blood bags that hang in the fridge. Food is still dangerous for these cool but friendly bloodsuckers and the family is throwing their youngest a birthday party.

Vampire Lore

The story follows a vampire family in a world where the stereotypical lore usually applied has a few small changes. The vampires in the setting live almost vicariously as humans. They grow older, too but slowly, and turning others into creatures of the night seems relatively quick. In traditional vampire movies, turning one into another requires a whole sequence, in Humanist Vampire, it can happen accidentally. Crusafixes cause a rash.

As the rest of the family watches Sasha squeal with delight at the delivery of a very energetic clown, her parents and sister look anything but thrilled. The clown begins to get nervous as the family continues to find his show unentertaining. Sasha, however, is so gleefully happy, he presses on and tries to impress them with magic. The fact that the family is otherworldly has not been kept a mystery in Humanist Vampire and the idea that this clown is also dinner makes the whole scene something that immediately gives way to compassion.

The wonderfully poignant drama story asks quite a few questions as it journeys along the narrative. Sasha is at the age when a vampire’s fangs come in. Unfortunately for her she hasn’t got her teeth yet. The most important thing in this scenario is that Sasha feels sorry for the clown, after all, killing him is part of her survival.

Having compassion towards the only source of food you are allowed is problematic. Like a baby who is never offered solids, she continues to get her nutrition from a bag after her parents hunt. Her parents start to fight with each other about who is doing the most work. Now that Sasha is older one person doesn’t quite stretch between the three of them anymore and Mom is left to do all the heavy lifting.

“Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person” is everything you want in a movie like this. Sasha eventually comes to terms with her true nature. Her fangs finally appear and her proud parents revel in the fact that dark thoughts might also have arisen in her happy mindset. They quietly celebrate as she mourns her innocence and remains steadfast in her stance of not taking a life. Sadly for Sasha, she finds there is still some remaining compassion towards the killing of humans. Her family protests as she decides to find a more humane way to satisfy her hunger.

Bloodlust + First Kill

“I thought humans feared death.”

“I think people are just afraid of suffering. Or of being alone.”

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person quote.