With a truly stunning debut performance from newcomer Katell Varvat, Huart’s delicate but striking tale leaves us with far more questions than it ultimately answers: Is Ewa really a vampire? Is her world imaginary or real? What happened to her family?
Ten-year-old Ewa claims she became a vampire last September. She spends each day avoiding the local bullies outside her high-rise block of flats while silently visiting the local cemetery, searching for rats to drink from. Her home is silent, with no sign of her parents, siblings, or any support, as Ewa sits in her bedroom, talking to her silent ‘master’ about her loneliness and need for a companion. During these conversations, Ewa decides it’s time to find a boy who can join her in ruling the concrete kingdom she inhabits, and so starts her mission to find the right young man, one her ‘master’ would approve of.
Written and directed by Rodrigue Huart, Transylvanie owes much to Let the Right One In as it explores childhood isolation, bullying and a need to find belonging in a world that alienates you. With a truly stunning debut performance from newcomer Katell Varvat, Huart’s delicate but striking tale leaves us with far more questions than it ultimately answers: Is Ewa really a vampire? Is her world imaginary or real? What happened to her family?
These questions lock you into the action on screen as this delightful slice of folk horror plays out amid the tower blocks of a cold housing estate. But it is in the final act that Transylvanie packs its mighty, unexpected punch, as Ewa finds the boy she wants, only to be confronted by the bullies she has been trying to avoid.
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