Neil Jordan’s return to the
vampire thriller feels a bit like a yo-yo. It ranges from excellent while held
in the hand to incredibly dull while close to the ground but spends a lot of
time somewhere in between. To take the analogy a step further, it also contains
anticipation but like a yo-yo, you know where the anticipation is going to
lead. The film portrays two female vampires who land in a small, run down
sea-side town, two centuries after their making. Mother Clara (Gemma Arterton)
works mainly as a prostitute to make ends meet while her gloomy daughter Eleanor
(Saoirse Ronan) struggles to connect with her mother and is lost and lonely
amongst their modern surroundings.
Byzantium
is pitched somewhere between gothic thriller and family drama and doesn’t quite
succeed at either. At its best it’s a poignant coming of age drama but it’s
sometimes painfully slow and meanders between the modern day and early nineteen
century when it might have worked better to stay in one or the other. The film
is host to a wonderful performance from Saoirse Ronan which helps to elevate it
above purely mundane and towards something of interest.
