Rent The Addiction on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Nicholas St. John
Directed by: Abel Ferrara
Starring: Lili Taylor, Christopher Walken, Annabella Sciorra, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli
Rated: NR [R]
Watch the trailer
Plot
A New York philosophy grad student turns into a vampire after getting bitten by one, and then tries to come to terms with her new lifestyle and frequent craving for human blood.
Verdict
This analyzes vampirism as a metaphor for addiction. From the changes and blood lust to how it affects everyone you know, it's debilitating. This never feels like a vampire movie. It's clear this is a woman struggling with addiction. You only need to change the neck biting scenes and this becomes a very different movie. It's an indie movie and looks like it. This is less plot and more probing an idea.
It depends.
Review
Shot in black and white certainly makes this seem older than it is, adding an otherworldly and gritty quality.
This doesn't provide much context. Kathy (Lili Taylor) is assaulted at night in what looks like a vampire attack. She's a philosophy student in class talking about sin and sinners which is certainly apt to the metaphor. Vampires act like sociopaths, ignoring society's rules to fulfill their own desires. That's what addiction drives people to do. Kathy attacks someone just like she was attacked. The metaphor is clear though the movie goes out of it's way to highlight the fact.
Kathy, like the vampire that bit her, blames the victim urging her to just say no. It's not just about the victim, Kathy can't stop. She is the addiction asking the victim why they couldn't stop, but addicts can't stop. That's why they're addicts.
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| Christopher Walken, Lili Taylor play Peina, Kathy |
Addiction changes who you are. Kathy covers the mirrors in her apartment, stating she doesn't want to see herself. Her urges have changed who she is and how she acts, even her appearance. She preys on her friends. This isn't a vampire movie, it's an addiction movie. Both are equally horrifying. The refrain of the movie is a vampire asking a victim, "Why don't you just tell me to leave you alone?" The vampire is the addict and the addiction.
Kathy runs into Peina (Christopher Walken) who claims he's beaten the urges. This movie cuts so much out that we don't even see how they meet. All of a sudden they're having a conversation.
If this wasn't clear this is about addiction, Ferrara has confirmed it in interviews. This adds a layer of philosophy that seems like it's trying too hard, but that's more that not everyone espouses philosophy and the movie wants to make the connection. It's interesting commentary that's difficult to add within context. Like the concept of addiction, it's a means to analyze life.
Kathy visits a grave at the end which generates a lot of questions, but it has to be figurative. To give up a life of addiction is to die and be reborn. That's what this movie hints towards.
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