Movie Review: So Vam (2021)

 

(disclosure: an advance screener of this film was provided for review purposes)

Alice Maio Mackay is a talented 17 year-old trans filmmaker from Adelaide, South Australia, and her first feature film, So Vam, premiered at 2021's Salem Horror Fest and joins the ever-growing library of SHUDDER exclusives on August 25th. 

So Vam tells the story of Kurt (Xai), an idealistic teenager who longs to escape from their stifling conservative hometown and the relentless bullying of their classmates, dreaming of the glitz and glamour of drag superstardom in the big city. Kidnapped and mortally wounded by a predatory vampire with a thrift store cowboy aesthetic named Landon (Chris Asimos), Kurt is saved from an ignominious fate by kind-hearted trans vampire April (Grace Hyland), who transforms Kurt into one of the undead in order to prevent our handsome protagonist from melting away into a disgusting puddle of goo, the destiny of all victims of fatal vampiric encounters. This is a clever (and visually inventive) new wrinkle in the lore of So Vam which I applaud. No need to worry about scores of victims piling up and confounding local authorities, after all. Just puddles of unidentifiable fluid left behind that can be easily washed away with a handy garden hose. 

Photo courtesy One Manner Productions

Welcomed into a new found family of fellow outcasts, including outspoken Harley (Iris Mcerlean) and wandering newcomer Andy (Tumelo Nthupi), Kurt discovers that being a vampire can be, in April's words, "fucking awesome". Especially when you've fallen in with a group of conscientious vigilantes with killer fashion sense who target only the worst examples of society, bigots and abusers, for their next meal. But it's not all blood and roses for Kurt, as they still have to deal with their best fiend Landon, who's been keeping busy turning some of Kurt's school bullies into loathsome ghouls for kicks, and Kurt knows they won't ever be able to truly move on with their life until this particular problem has been dealt with once and for all. But Kurt won't be facing this threat alone, because their new friends are in Kurt's corner, and besides, April has her own bone to pick with Landon, who is living proof that "you can live forever and still be a childish shithead".

Shot on a shoestring budget over a period of seven grueling days in the heat of summer, So Vam has atmosphere and charm to spare, a stylish and alluring gem that moves at a break-neck pace, never boring as it introduces characters and situations without bogging the plot down with any tedious exposition overload. Director Mackay trusts her intended audience to fill in any gaps with their own imaginations as she keeps the story rolling along, giving away just enough here and there through dialogue exchanges to allow viewers to understand exactly who our heroes are and what they stand for, relying on a form of shorthand that is really only achievable through cinema to bring her characters to life. 

We know exactly who Kurt is two minutes into So Vam, and we experience their exuberance as a newborn vampire while they prey on a pair of execrable counselors at a "pray the gay away" summer camp for their first meal, freely attacking these loathsome caricatures without a single pang of conscience telling them to show mercy on their victims. April chastises Kurt not for killing their prey with aplomb, but for not being more cognizant of any potential witnesses, in this case a pair of traumatized gay teenagers covered in the blood of their now-melting counselors, whom April dismisses in a humorous moment with a little hypnosis to help them forget the horrifying sight they've just seen. 

And speaking of April, her character is fleshed out with a few choice lines of dialogue, with enough of her past revealed for viewers to understand she's led a difficult life before she became a vampire and now uses her gifts to empower other marginalized youths, giving them the means to stand up for themselves and strike back at the authority figures who would do them harm for no other reason than their being "different" from the norm. A similar approach helps to make Andy, Kurt's eventual love interest, feel like a fully-realized character. One quick conversation between Andy and Kurt and we learn everything we need to know about this stalwart itinerant vampire. Economic storytelling is a wonderful thing, and plenty of veteran filmmakers could take notes from newcomer Alice Maio Mackay.

Photo courtesy One Manner Productions

The first credit we see on So Vam reads: "a transgender and queer film from Alice Maio Mackay", and what a brilliant statement of purpose that is. This is not a mainstream motion picture and it isn't trying to be. It's an effortlessly charming and frequently beautiful piece of outsider art made by a brave new voice in cinema who demonstrates a grasp of the art form that belies her relative inexperience. So Vam was directed by a teenager with pocket change and it looks like a million bucks. Colorful, clever and just plain cool, So Vam is an effervescent passion project from a director who understands that inclusion matters, that diversity matters, and her invaluable perspective is on full display with this feature debut. It's difficult to make such a tried and true subject as the vampire feel fresh and new in a motion picture, but So Vam manages to do just that with ease, introducing a likable coterie of justice-minded blood suckers who stand for each other and for outcasts everywhere in a world that too often relegates the outcasts to the fringes of so-called normal society, a fitting metaphor for the trans and queer community Mackay represents with her do-it-yourself studio, One Manner Productions. 

So Vam is a movie made by the outsider, for the outsider, and what a breath of fresh air it is. Easy to admire and easy to love, I cannot recommend So Vam enough for the discerning viewer. It might be a little rough around the edges, but that's ultimately just part of the film's charm. This is not a glossy major studio release, but an independent production made with craft and affection for the community it chooses to highlight, and what a beautiful thing that is. If only there were more movies like So Vam out there. Luckily, Alice Maio Mackay has a long and exciting career ahead of her, and I can't wait to see what she does next.

- Dustin Bacon

(So Vam premieres on SHUDDER August 25th)