The first English-language film from acclaimed Japanese director Shunji Iwai, this haunting portrait of melancholia and loneliness finds his unique style intact.

Vampire is not a horror film, and if one approaches it with those expectations, disillusionment may be the reward. But the film is a haunting study of loneliness that marks a masterful entry into English-language filmmaking by Japanese director Shunji Iwai. Iwai has developed a fervent international cult following over the years, with fans connecting to his music-driven, youth-oriented dramas like Swallowtail Butterfly and All About Lily Chou Chou, and Vampire finds him relocating his obsessions to America and losing none of his sensibility in the process. Iwai not only directed this new project, but he also wrote, co-produced, photographed, edited, and scored it (!), and – unsurprisingly – it’s a highly personal work. Less vampire than desperate internet stalker, Simon (Kevin Zegers) divides his time between teaching high school biology, caring for his Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother (Amanda Plummer), and prowling online for depressed young women with whom he enters into one-sided suicide pacts, helping them take their own lives while he then drains them of their blood. After encountering several of these women (played by Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rachael Leigh Cook, Kristin Kreuk and Aoi Yu), Simon also meets a sort of online vampire rival in the sadistic Renfield (Trevor Morgan), and Simon is forced to wonder if he can continue with his own detachment from the world. Defiantly eclectic and idiosyncratic – not to mention alternately poignant and whimsical – Vampire confirms Iwai as a distinctive talent in international cinema. Just don’t expect Twilight. -- Travis Crawford