Dark Vampire Comedy Written and Directed by Knives Out Star, Streaming Now
The vampire genre has become somewhat overcrowded, and following the abomination that was the Twilight saga, it has never been the same. Put simply, what used to scare us and make us think twice before passing a dark alleyway is now a subject of teenage fantasy and action movies. But that doesn’t mean that the new kind of vampire movies are bad. On the contrary, there are some really good hits, and Blood Relatives, coming from Noah Segan (Knives Out), is one such movie.
Fun With Francis And Jane
Blood Relatives is a good-natured horror-comedy about Francis, a 115-year-old leather-wearing vampire who’s not only a bloodsucker, but also an outsider with a beat-up muscle car, and now, a parent who reunites with his estranged, half-human teenage daughter. However, despite him being the protagonist, the real stars of the movie are actually him and Jane—portrayed by Victoria Molores—his daughter, who spends the entirety of the movie frustrated with the attempts at bonding with her father.
Francis Knows How To Read The Room
Their combined star power is the real star of the movie, as Segan—who actually wrote the movie and stars as its protagonist—does a fantastic job of developing Molores’ character and allows her to steal the shots from him. It’s their combined portrayal of their respective characters that makes Blood Relatives so interesting. Francis, as a vampire, plays at the audience’s expectations perfectly by asking whether he can enter the building or not, but on the other hand, he’s extremely polite to nearly everyone he addresses because of his Jewish upbringing.
Reverse Vampire Tropes
Jane, on the other hand, has none of that. She’s blunt and doesn’t fret when it comes to cutting Francis down to size after imposing herself onto Francis and his life—as if the roles were reversed, Jane was the vampire, and Francis was a human.
The realities are different, with Jane trying to prove that she doesn’t actually need Francis the way he thinks he does and Francis’ loaded expectations being based on a total lack of parenting experience and a complete lack of social awareness—the whole thing makes Blood Relatives quite a refreshing take on the vampire genre.
A Blood-Sucking Good Time
It was so refreshing, in fact, that the movie was praised for its originality and the performances of both Segan and Molores, with the Knives Out star receiving particular attention for his portrayal of Francis. Other notable praise includes the film’s focus on character-driven storytelling and a more intimate scale of narrative.
It’s really not that surprising that Blood Relatives managed to garner a 97 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 71 percent audience score, which doesn’t constitute critical acclaim but proves that the movie was a success definitely worth its screen time.
Stream Blood Relatives Today
Blood Relatives was produced by XYZ Films, which is known for supporting independent movies, and it was distributed as a Shudder Original on the streamer’s platform. Money is usually a clear indicator of success, but since the budget and earnings weren’t publicly disclosed, we’ll have to rely on Rotten Tomatoes to measure its quality. Those interested in watching Blood Relatives can catch the movie on Shudder and AMC+.
