Drained – review

Directors: Peter Stylianou & Sean Cronin

Release date: 2024

Contains spoilers

This is an indie UK film with some clever ideas and, as you’ll see, for the most part I enjoyed it but, whilst well-played, there was an issue with the characters. Nevertheless it proves itself to be a solid little vampire flick with some interesting lore on offer.

It begins with a decrepit man (Matteo Pasquini) in bed with an intravenous blood bag in his arm. A female vampire, Rhea (Madalina Bellariu Ion, Dampyr), feeds from his wrist. We hear it suggested that they are always and forever.

in the basement

In a room elsewhere, with fantasy drawing on the wall, a man, Thomas (Ruaridh Aldington), furiously masturbates over the art, which he has drawn. He is interrupted by a shout from his mother (Angela Dixon). She tells him that John (Craig Conway), the pest control man, is coming. When John gets there it is clear that his mother is flirting but she asks Thomas to take him to the basement. He does, reluctantly, and then goes out. It is clear Thomas has been reclusive for a while, but he goes to the bar where his friend Dano (Andrew Lyle-Pinnock) works.

first time seeing her

As Dano is working, Thomas is drinking alone. He nips outside for a cigarette and sees a woman enter – Rhea – and is immediately captivated by her, to him she looks like the fantasy girl. He watches her dance and, through the camera lens, it seems to us that her sultry dance is for him. She comes over and says that he is beautiful and asks him to dance. She gives her name and, in a foreign language, says that she can feel his heart. He is overwhelmed by a bloody vision. He wakes the next day, alone at home.

Ruaridh Aldington as Thomas

Two weeks later and he watches Night of the Living Dead, turning the sound up to drown out the sounds of his mother and John having sex. Later, to his shock, he is told that John is moving in and that he is being moved out to John’s flat (that he can’t afford as he is unemployed). He has also not seen anything of Rhea. Buying a (very small) amount of credit for his electric supply he sees a homeless guy (Kenton Lloyd Morgan). The man has, what looks to us like, a pair of fang marks on his wrist and he mentions that *they* bleed us dry. He gets a call from Dano as Rhea is at the bar. He rushes over, speaks to her (but she acts like she doesn’t know him) and then her date (Timothy Blore) comes over. Dano knew she was on a date and called him as a wind up. A drunk Thomas takes a bus home and as he gets to the flat Rhea appears.

feeding

She says she was on the bus, and he didn’t see her (likelihood, she followed in flight as we discover later vampires can fly). She requires inviting in (and interestingly, until it becomes her home, requires an invite each visit). She tells Thomas that the date didn’t taste nice. He fumbles getting the electric on and, when the lights come back on, she is on his bed (she has good night vision, she says). She is apparently going to sleep there and suggests that maybe he is the one. Sleep is actually sleep, not sex, with him below the covers, her over them. He wakes in the night to find her feeding on his arm. Apparently, he is delicious. He does ask her to leave but she leaves her number…

together

So, I’ll leave the blow-by-blow there but it is worth mentioning that, come the first morning Thomas freaks about sunlight until it doesn’t burn him. Later Rhea suggests it irritates, maybe causing eczema. Biting does not turn a person – to become a vampire the person has to eat a vampire’s heart. Her biting does give him pleasure but the wounds start to look like track marks and the drug similes are very evident. However, the film also examines co-dependency and toxic relationships.

when the moon is full

More lore we come across concerns the man from the beginning, Andreas, he is actually her husband – the relationship she has with Thomas is one where he craves the pleasure of the bite and any crumb she’ll give him, it is apparently sexless (she rebuffs an attempted kiss and openly calls him nothing but a victim) – but it appears that she does love “the old man”. Old Man is a good descriptor, when asked what is wrong with him, his nurse says he got old too quick; he is 36. Thomas too becomes rapidly ill and loses weight – this is, of course, a drug use metaphor but may also be draining youth from the victim. There seems to be a mental connection with victims and the full moon turns hunger into a homicidal rage of ravenousness.

keening wail

The film looks lovely and the performances are all solid but the relationship highlights where I found there to be a character issue with the film. Rhea and Thomas become toxic quickly, yes, but the characters (despite best efforts of the actors) are not overly likeable. She is cold and aloof, occasionally cruel – turning on sexuality as a tool (though her keening wail, when Andreas dies, indicates more depths and a mental connection with her drained husband), whilst Thomas is feckless and unmotivated. John should have had his streak of black comedy but unfortunately comes across as dislikable, mum is probably the character with the most viewer sympathy but, all in all, I didn’t warm to any of the main characters. This is not a slight on performance or direction, it was a choice, but I would have liked at least one character to hang a hat on. Overall, however, a well shot vampire flick. 6.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK