Olalla (Amy Hesketh) is the daughter to an old Bolivian family ... of
vampires. And to some extent, she's the black sheep of the family, every
now and again to control her bloodsucking urges, and thus endangering her
next of kin. Matter of fact, ages ago, Olalla's mother (also Amy Hesketh)
was chained to a cross and burned to death about one and a half centuries
ago, when Olalla was still a child - vampires age in this story, but very
slowly. Olalla also isn't quite happy with both her role as a vampire, and
her position within her family, where she's treated like a child, every
now and again flogged and raped by her uncle Felipe (Jac Avila) as
punishment for her urges, humiliated by her own sister Ofelia (Mila Joya),
who actually wants her dead and doesn't shy away from fucking uncle Felipe
into submission, and looked down upon by the rest of her relatives.
However, Olalla's family has a houseguest however, Nathan (Luis Almanza),
a war photographer treated for post traumatic stress disorder, and he has
taken a liking in Olalla - and she too feels a certain connection. With
him, Olalla plans to escape her family - but he hasn't the first idea that
she's a vampire, nor what's going on even ... so is there any chance for
this to work out? Thanks to its totally unconventional
approach, Olalla is one of the most interesting vampire movies of
late - these are not your typical bloodsuckers, but a typical
old-fashioned family with a strict hierarchy, its black sheep (Olalla) and
forbidden fruits (Ofelia), its enforcers (Felipe) and eccentrics (Erix
Antoine as Uncle Bruno) - but all of this isn't played for laughs (though
there are a few) but as a drama with its gory, its violent, its sexy and
its fetishistic bits, all set in rather beautifully decorated sets
betraying crumbling decadence, carried by a first rate ensemble cast. And
Amy Hesketh's direction captures all of this quite beautifully: At a laid
back pace she manages to capture the emotional underpinnings quite
expertly while at the same time switching between past (the story of
Olalla's mother) and present quite effortlessly and effectively - and
whoever has the nerve to tell me that the burning of Olalla's mother on
the cross has not sent a shiver down their spines is probably lying. Totally
recommended! And if this has at all gotten you interested, you
can get Olalla here: http://movies.vermeerworks.com
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