Only Lovers Left Alive (2 Stars)

It's with a heavy heart that I have to rate this film so low. I expected it to be much better. Before writing I thought I would give it 3 Stars out of generosity, but I have to be honest. The film left me cold. While I was in the cinema I was fighting the urge to check my watch to see when it would be over.

Adam and Eve are two vampires who have been alive for centuries. Whether they are the Adam and Eve isn't stated, we're left to our own opinions. They have always been lovers, even though they sometimes spend years apart. When the film begins Adam is a musician in Detroit, while Eve is living in Tangier. In fact, Adam has been a musician for hundreds of years, occasionally giving his compositions to famous people like Richard Strauss and asking them to publish them as their own. Eve decides to visit Adam. He shows her around Detroit, mourning the death of the Motown music scene. Then they return to Tangier together.

It should have been great. It had everything going for it: Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as vampires, not to mention John Hurt in a minor role. The problem for me is that it's way too slow. Considering they are reunited lovers there seems to be a lack of passion. Instead of wanting to make love they just fall asleep entangled during the day, and when it's night Adam doesn't even want to wake up. They're bored with life. They've seen it all and now they're living just because they're too tired to kill themselves. I'm sure that it was the director's intention to show how pointless and dull living forever can be, but for me as a viewer the whole effect is negative.

Surprisingly, the film has been highly praised by critics. It was even one of the nominations for the best film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The critics must have seen something in it that I didn't. I'll give it another chance. I'll watch it again when it's released on DVD.