Bit

This is definitely one of the better movies out there when it comes to story, food for thought and moral lessons (even though most people seem to miss what the point they were trying to make is). Could have done without a lot of the dialogue and should have been polished a bit more before the script was finalized, but overall I loved the style and the strong points it did have were amazing.

For those who think this is a feminist's power fantasy, it's not, it does introduce the narrative of men not being able to handle power and the "women's club" that punishes the ones who abuse it, but it does challenge all of that. The writer/director has a lot of talent and is actually a he, if you hadn't checked that yet.

While I did enjoy it quite a bit, it could have been so much better. It had such powerful blasts of creativity and originality, but fell so flat during a lot of the dialogue scenes, especially as the protagonist was being introduced. It was surprisingly in touch with reality, you never feel like there's a holier-than-thou protagonist and bad, bad antagonist, the movie manages to both portray how not black-and-white things are and still have you know who you're supposed to root for.

tl:dr I'm sad it isn't as amazing as it could have been, but you won't be wasting your time watching it.

The first 20 minutes had me worried that this was going to be a stridently anti-man angry feminist film, and not in a good way. (There's a place for those, but not in my teen vampire movies.) However, the tone evens out and the message of the overall movie is much better. Like Lost Boys, this isn't a deep movie, but it's fun, and the soundtrack is good, and we had a lot of fun watching it. There are a few times where the humor didn't quite reach its obvious intent, but overall, it's a good movie.

Serious kudos to the film for hiring a trans actress to play a trans character, but also for making that a minor part of the story, rather than a Very Special Episode. It's just part of the character's background that makes her who she is, and it's handled very well.

(Side note to the Boomers and older Gen-X folks: Like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Daybreak, Bit is made with Millennial/Gen-Z values. In our era, one non-white character and one girl were considered appropriately diverse for any group of otherwise white, male heroes. Movies like Bit, however, speak to the younger generations who live in a much more diverse world and have much different baseline expectations for that. If you find yourself irked by it, try acknowledging that it's not *your* teen years that are being represented. It's okay if movies like this aren't about or "for" us. Letting go of the need to have them be "for" us is the best way I've found to enjoy them for what they are.)

I am feeling generous so I will give Bit a 5. Watchable, but ultimately not a good movie. To be fair, the acting is pretty good although the roles are not exactly demanding, the effects are well done, the concept is even really pretty good, but it is so chock full of cringeworthy sexy Vampire stuff; so tailored to people who never grew out of their teens even though they are now in their twenties (or older), that it is really hard to appreciate that there is a good movie in there somewhere. It also so badly wants to be serialized (it even quite directly says so in an epilogue) that it avoids giving a satisfactory ending. Not even a THE END???... just a straight up to be continued (and to be honest I wouldn't bet on there ever being that follow up).

I can not stress enough how chockablock full of generic teen content it is. Sexy young twenties Vamps, ''underground'' raves and parties oozing sexuality, innuendo, wealth and young sexiness, and, of course, the naive small town protagonist who is seduced and who is going to be a victim, but has ''a certain something'' (although I can't tell what that something is except maybe being a bit similar to a certain someone in Twilight) that makes her get brought into the family. It has the Nosferatu disadvantages mostly glossed over... weakness to sunlight removed, far more control over blood lust (unless you don't feed for several days of course), garlic aversion removed, etc... which I don't really have a problem with except that it is so generic. The characters are similarly cookie cutter drab, each of which would have been perfect in Buffy, Twilight, maybe Blade, or any other pop vampire movie of the past twenty or so years. There are some current issues in the film as well, but they are mostly shoehorned in and do little more than pay lip service to a narrative of female empowerment and identity than actually serve a real function. This really is a just vampire fantasy at the core.

And of course... Dracula himself is there, but mostly as a background plot device, which I also don't really have a problem with to be honest. Not every vampire movie has to be about Dracula-- I would actually prefer if it wasn't anyway.

Now if you want teen content, this movie is likely VERY MUCH up your alley. Like I said, the concept has some freshness, and the production is actually pretty solid. If you are looking for something really new, there are definitely MUCH better things to spend your time watching.

..., You'll get to see Ms Maines performing well, in costumes the Supergirl wardrobe dept can't use for the hero side.

If you came looking for strong plot, deep meaning, or proper horror, this ain't it. It's not dark enough to be scary, or bloody enough to fit in the indie horror league.

On a techniques level, the film is shot, lit, ADR'd, edited and directed at a competent level, there's no jarring lapses in quality of production. It may even be a little too well made to fit the indie scene.

The plot is pretty standard fare, and the script doesn't really push the actors, it's a little too tame in the places where it could, and should have, pushed in to new ground. It errs to the side of caution, even trying to be politically correct, where it could have flipped the tropes and surprised viewers.

It's an easy watch, but not one you'll watch over and over, unless you're a Dreamer fan.

This is a beautifully shot film from beginning to end, the colors popped off the screen and everything was just dark enough to set the mood. Following a young woman named Laurel from Oregon so she can give things a shake in LA for a summer, we see her go to a concert where she meets up with a group of mysterious women who turn out to be vampires. Shenanigans of course ensue as Laurel gets turned and has to learn the ropes of what it means to be a vampire.

Queer themes are everywhere in this movie, but never more than what's necessary to establish that the women are indeed lesbians (or queer). The fact that Laurel is transgender was honestly lost on me until I checked out the reviews for it. So clearly they didn't go overboard in the film, it just wasn't that central to the story.

Speaking of the story, this is the one area I struggled with... It's a simple story, which is fine, but I honestly wanted more back story for the supporting cast. We know Laurel and the lead vampire Duke, who has a highly entertaining bit of exposition to cover her back story (to the tune of 'Rasputin' no less). However there are three other women there that have a good screen presence but never actually get much more than a line or two of background information.

The acting isn't bad either, they were going for a sort of ethereal performance I suppose and it worked in a campy sort of way.

All in all, the movie is fun as long as you aren't a fragile dude bro.