The Transfiguration

I have been waiting to see this movie for a few months now. It just recently got released to DVD so I picked it up. I'm a very tough movie critic, especially when it comes to horror films and even more specific: vampire films.

We have seen the extreme violent and evil natured vampires, and then there are the ones with some empathy and humane features. This film is the latter of the two.

The film isn't based mostly around the sole plot of the vampire, but more around the "vampire's" surroundings, interactions, thought processes, and interests. A select few will really resonate with this movie. If you were ever the different kid at school, it's almost a trip down memory lane. Milo is a selective talker and generally unafraid of bullies, whether at school or around his housing project, and takes it with stride. "It is what it is," he says to the other main character Sophie. Sophie is a bit of a polar opposite of Milo. She is more of an extrovert and not afraid to make the first move. Of course, this creates some friction between the two but that eventually will develop into what I think the movie is honestly about.

This movie isn't centered around his vampiric tendencies: whether they are real or not is for you to decide. It strives more for two people who don't feel they belong or exist in this world. One feeling that way towards the beginning and shifting to the other towards the end. The movie doesn't flesh out much of Milo's background or Sophie's, but I think that's the point. It would have been less interesting if you knew more about either. This isn't one of the best movies I've seen all year, but it has been this week's best by far.

The movie centers around the human condition more than anything, and how people learn to cope with it, or sacrifice to make something larger than themselves be improved or saved.

Don't get me wrong, this film is definitely a slice of life dealing with vampire elements, but it's also about two confused individuals trying to figure out things together. I liked the ending personally, it jumped into a moment of Milo's life and jumped out of it with two people's lives changed for the better or worse. It's completely up to you. This won't scare you, it's more of a drama/crime/mystery. But I loved it. I would honestly give it a solid 6 out of 10, which means I thoroughly enjoyed and will probably show it to someone or watch again myself.

It was a very blood sucking satisfying but, "realistic," as Milo says so much during the movie, reality. It is a more toned down Let the Right One In, but I would say it leans towards that type. So it's up to you if you are interested in a semi complex layered story that has to do with vampire elements.

I would rate it 6 out of 10, but I went with a 7 so it hopefully secures the solid 6 it deserves.

I think if I hadn't read a few reviews (even if they were not marked as containing spoilers!) I would have enjoyed the movie more. I think it tries to play with the uncertainty of not knowing who or what Milo is in reality, but reading everyone's specific comments about it kind of spoiled it for me. I guess is too late to warn anyone, anyway... Still, it's quite a simple story, a serial killer boy and his motives and obsessions. Good acting, somehow interesting characters to certain point, but very little development on them and the story itself. On the downside, the very slow pace makes it feel longer than it is. Also, (on the technical side) the shaky hand-held camera got me annoyed 15 minutes into the movie, it literally NEVER stops shaking in ANY shoot of the movie, which I think is definitely not a good thing, cinematography style should look for a balance and use different styles for different situations. Still, not a bad movie or confusing like many were saying in their reviews (what's confusing here?), but definitely NOT A HORROR movie! It's a violent drama, but there's no horror here, so if that's why you're after, look somewhere else.

The outcast orphan Milo (Eric Ruffin) is a lonely teenager that lives with his brother in a dangerous neighborhood. Milo is fan of vampire stories and movies and he randomly kills people to drink their blood like a vampire and steal their money. When he meets the depressed teenager Sophie (Chloe Levine), they become friends and spend their leisure time together affecting Milo.

"The Transfiguration" is a weird but interesting low-budget rip-off of "Martin" and "Låt den rätte komma in". There is something missing to rate "The Transfiguration" a good film, but it keeps the attention of the viewer until he last scene. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

although this is categorised as horror on IMDb and Netflix, i would argue that this film debut by writer/director Michael O'Shea is really more of a psychological thriller. it's a very slow-paced, but highly compelling, philosophical character study

Eric Ruffin gives a great performance as the leading character, who appears to be autistic: he has a special interest in vampires, aversion to eye contact, reduced affect display, selective mutism and a seemingly limited understanding of social norms, though there's clearly something else at play, driving the strange compulsions which are one of the primary focuses and key mysteries of the film

Larry Fessenden, actor and director of Habit (one of my favourite vampire movies), makes a cameo appearance. the script and dialogue are well-written and inspire analysis and meditation. i enjoyed this quite a bit and look forward to seeing what else O'Shea comes up with in or has in store for the future

Seen at he IMAGINE film festival 2017 in Amsterdam. The story flows all the time and keeps your interest, but overall the dramatic developments are minimal, and the atmosphere embedding the two main topics, violence and social commentary, does not provide for anything new that we haven't seen already in many other movies.

The only novel element is that Milo is a vampire, this time not someone who has to avoid daylight, and he also does not sleep in a coffin. Milo lives a more or less normal life with his older brother, who has apparently nothing more to do than watching TV all day long. Milo marks days on a calendar that he has to go "hunting". We saw a handwritten book with rules of engagement, e.g. that the victim must come instead of chasing him, but that was only a small fragment of a heavy stack of paper. We also see him several times bite randomly chosen victims, after which he is always somewhat nauseas, seemingly inherent in the process. How he became a vampire, is left in the dark (no pun intended), and what we see of his brother does suggest that is not something that runs in the family.

We see less of Sophie, not even her house from the inside, when she e.g. lets Milo wait for her door when she has to pick up something, very different from her having access to Milo's house and even stays in his room for a few days. Not clear what it all means, if anything. Both walk outside the house like a couple, e.g. holding hands, but there is no sex involved as far as we see, despite of sleeping in the same bed and kissing each other frequently.

All in all, if it really was the intention of the film makers to leave us confused, just as confused as both main protagonists are with respect to the world around them, this movie is a success however without a silver lining. It does not make us any wiser through the added elements of social commentary nor does it about violence or NYC's atmosphere, being important topics as suggested by the movie's website but I missed all of it.