 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Bite Me • Year: 2019 • Country: USA • Director: Meredith Edwards • Main cast: Naomi McDougall Jones, Christian Coulson, Naomi Grossman, Annie Golden, Mahira Kakkar, Antino Crowley-Kamenwati • Runtime: 83 minutes • Production company: Blue Firefly Films, Kali Pictures, Legacy Pictures, Twin Dragons Productions • TRAILER
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Do vampires exist? Yes, vampires exist. At least, in the not-supernatural meaning. There is a psychiatric syndrome called “clinical vampirism”, also named the Renfield Syndrome, where the person has the obsession or need of drinking human blood. It is categorized by science and a bunch of thousands of people have been documented diagnosed with it.
So are the protagonists of the movie Bite Me (2019) real-life vampires? Well, according to the clinical diagnosis of their behaving, yes, they should be. And they deserve public recognition and respect. And they founded their own church or congregation so they claim for the legal and tax benefits of it. So, if you add the romantic component then you have the main core of this sympathetic comedy.
First of all, don’t search for a horror flick here because you are not going to find it. Even when the protagonists are feeding of blood or doing their vampires’ stuff not a single drop of the precious red fluid is seen. Bite Me (2019) is strictly a romantic comedy about a group of weirdos trying to fit into society. It is not goofy although it has plenty of comedic situations, it is not cheesy although it has some touching moments, and it is not intended to be very serious although it hides an element of social statement in it.
In fact, it is not hiding very much its social intentions. The movie is built in a way that many modern-life outcasts could see themselves reflected in those vampires. Vampires must come out of the closet as homosexuals feel forced to, they are seen as weirdos as many anti-socials, alternative urban tribes, nerds, or shy people do, and, finally, it is made patent that plenty of people that apparently have a normal life in the eyes of our conservative society they also take a very different unconventional role in their spare time.
This is the second feature film adventure of director Meredith Edwards ad producer, writer, and the main star Naomi McDougall Jones after the awards-winner drama Imagine I’m Beautiful (2014). And the good chemistry between the two, one behind the camera and the other one in front, is powerful. Images and sequences flow very naturally, and the very picturesque group of characters, including the main protagonist and her weird roommates, the lousy Romeo played by Christian Coulson, and the Jesus-freak co-worker that wants to oppose the freaky lovebirds form an attractive puzzle that although bordering the cliche still works well. But, after all, those are one of the basics of comedy, right?
Bite Me (2019) is an enjoyable watch, and that is a statement. It puts a smile on your face and despite it might deal with subjects that could be taken seriously and dig in their real dramatic situations and consequences it always avoids any serious conflict. Not surreal but weird, not heartbreaking but sensitive, and not hilarious but funny, the movie is a homage to the freaks, to those who don’t want to wear the same suit as the rest of the accommodated and boring world. And this is why this movie is here because it is not a gorefest, a splat-o-rama exhibit, or a scare-the-shit-outta-you tale, but it is about us, the weirdos, the lovers of the alternative, the different, and the exciting.
RATE: 6/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7201818
