Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Because I’m going through my middle school goth phase in college, I’m a big fan of vampires. I can’t explain why this is hitting me now instead of when I was thirteen; I just think they’re neat. But most vampire media leaves me unsatisfied. I’m not really into the classic horror depiction of them as brutal monsters, but I also hate the wimpy, defanged (ha) vampires found in contemporary romance novels. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) finally satisfied my craving for good vampire movies.
Written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, this movie follows a Girl (Sheila Vand) as she haunts the fictional Iranian town of Bad City. Its residents may have their suspicions, but they don’t realize just how dangerous she is, despite looking every inch a vampire in a black cloak, heavy eyeliner, and dark lipstick. As she hunts for prey, a young man named Arash (Arash Marandi) tries to deal with his father’s debts to a drug-dealing pimp while living his own life. He crosses paths with the Girl, and they fall in love. But of course, because of her vampiric nature, it isn’t quite that simple.
My favorite thing about A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is that the vampire is sympathetic, but still undoubtedly dangerous. She snarls like an animal when she attacks, fangs suddenly sliding into view. She tends to choose victims who are bad people, but her morals aren’t black and white, because she also terrorizes a beggar child into running away so that she can steal his skateboard. But in some ways she’s a normal young woman looking for amusement. Once she gets it, she rides the skateboard around town, cloak billowing dramatically behind her. Her room, complete with posters on the walls and a hip record collection, wouldn’t look out of place among my friends’ dorm rooms. And when she starts to develop a relationship with a cute boy, she fears the truth of what she’s done will scare him off, so she pushes herself away before that can happen.
The Girl’s lack of speech is commented on by other characters, but everyone in this movie is rather laconic, letting long moments pass in silence. Although the runtime is under two hours, the film felt like it crawled by — in the best possible way. At times A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night reminded me of Only Lovers Left Alive, another arty vampire movie. But where Only Lovers Left Alive occasionally left me bored during its long quiet scenes, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night lets the audience luxuriate in its stillness, and every time the Girl shows up, it’s instantly exhilarating.
This is thanks in part to the captivating visuals of Bad City. This town would feel eery even without the vampire, with its dimly lit suburban streets and threatening industrial machinery, all captured in beautiful black and white. The actors also keep every moment engaging. Vand and Marandi are both absolutely transfixing, even when they just turn slowly to look at each other. But everyone in the film gives a stellar performance. It’s a relatively small cast, which makes Bad City feel even emptier and spookier. Loneliness plagues this story, appearing in every character, including the Girl. So the connection between her and Arash is all the more touching once it’s made.
I could find countless details I love about this film, but I don’t want to give away all its lovely intricacies. It’s got a fantastic soundtrack, perfectly matching the Girl’s modernity and youth and simultaneous creepiness. I haven’t even mentioned how Amirpour seemingly effortlessly weaves a Western pastiche throughout the film. Arash drives a sick car, and in the opening scene, he picks up a cat and puts it in said car. As soon as I saw that cat I assumed it would meet an unpleasant fate, but (minor spoilers ahead) the cat makes it to the end of the movie alive and well.
This story undeniably takes place in the modern world, overshadowed by contemporary drug culture and drenched in electro music. But it also feels timeless, or perhaps frozen in time, stuck on an empty street in a too-still night in Bad City. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a much-needed revitalization of a classic genre (actually two, but I didn’t get to the Western thing). But I also hope it becomes a classic in its own right — a lasting marker of what a good vampire story should be.
