Over the past few years, literature, television and cinema have been littered with various depictions of vampires, werewolves and supernatural creatures. From tween favourite Twilight to the more recent televised Dracula, the genre never ceases to be a goldmine of entertainment and inspiration. Only Lovers Left Alive is alternative cinema stalwart Jim Jarmusch’s first foray into the vampiric.

Jarmusch’s last venture was the narratively complex The Limits of Control, but here he turns to comedy. The wry humour and deadpan quips from the protagonist works well with Jarmusch’s languorous and slow plot style, not to mention his studied, intellectualised dialogue. In one scene, Kit (John Hurt) casually drops into a conversation with his vampire friend Eve (Tilda Swinton) that he wrote Hamlet, later gesturing to a picture of Shakespeare that he is an “illiterate philistine”.  It is also revealed that Kit is in fact Christopher Marlowe.

The academic tone does not feel contrived or irritating. It is more a tongue-in-cheek humour, like the names of the main couple, Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve. All past culture and art is turned on its head during the film. Artists are revealed to be frauds, such as when Adam mentions that he gave one of his pieces to Schubert, and Byron is described as a terrible bore.

Adam is portrayed as the ultimate romantic hero. With raggedy hair in his eyes, a pallid complexion and an effortlessly cool demeanour, he is the endlessly reflective, poetic and tortured artiste. The only person keeping him alive is Eve, his soul mate, who is more balanced and satisfied with life.

Jarmusch films in two contrasting locations, Detroit and Tangiers. Both are shabby and worn-down cities, particularly the increasingly-abandoned Detroit. They are the perfect locations for the artistically-inclined characters, both cities being subject to social change and upheaval.  Jarmusch’s filming of Detroit is especially lyrical: an ode to the decrepit city. He shows the broken-down but also the reviving underground music scene.

Despite the vampires’ bohemian lives, they face looming threats, such as the arrival of Eve’s brattish and volatile sister Ava, and contaminated blood from the ‘zombies’ – humans.  However, the vampires continue living through reinvention and nomadic lifestyles. 

In addition to the existential musings and intellectualism, music features heavily in the film.  Adam is a musician, desperately clinging onto to his reclusion and relative unknown. He has his own music in the film, ethereal and grungy rock. The overall soundtrack blends a mix of haunting guitars and traditional Maghreb music. Jarmusch’s band Sqürl features, as does Cults singer Madeline Follin, creating numbers reminiscent of avant-garde electronica groups Fever Ray or The Knife.

Visually and aurally evocative, Jarmusch’s creates a melancholic tableau of life and romanticism.