I grew up in the age of vampires.
If you didn’t pay attention to the near-decade-long hold “Twilight” had on society, you’re either a liar or boring. So when “Interview with the Vampire” became a repeated viewing suggestion, I decided to blindly dive in.
But be warned: “Interview with the Vampire” is not the corny supernatural love story of your middle school years.
It is the second media adaption of the famed novel of the same name, written by Anne Rice. The first on-screen version was a 1994 film that starred three young actors just starting to generate the attention of audiences: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and an eleven-year-old Kirsten Dunst.
The series, however, premiered in 2022 to acclaim from viewers and critics alike. While it was originally created by AMC+, the show came to Max on Sept. 1, where it will be available for streaming until Oct. 31. As of publication, it’s ranked as the seventh-most streamed series on the platform, and for good reason.
Split between a second-chance interview based in Dubai in 2022 and 20th century New Orleans, the show follows the lives of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) as they become intertwined, obsessed and terrifyingly devoted to one another.
While the show generally follows the same storyline as the original source material, two major changes only served to strengthen the story and fit a 21st-century audience.
The first is the rewriting of de Pointe du Lac, from a white slave owner who runs indigo plantations to a Black man who boasts local New Orleans societal fame due to his family businesses. Anderson, who gained global recognition as Grey Worm in “Game of Thrones,” plays de Pointe du Lac with a ferocity and power rarely seen in modern day TV. It’s impossible not to be mesmerized by him, as he portrays his character’s intense and abundant emotions with a stunning depth.
The second change is in the relationship between de Lioncourt and de Pointe du Lac. While the queer undertones between the two has been agreed upon by both Rice and audiences for decades now, “Interview with the Vampire” is the first adaption to have the characters be explicitly queer and portray their relationship as a love story.
The change from subtext to canon is one of the most brilliant deviations the show’s creative team could’ve possibly taken with the story. Anderson and Reid are dynamic, with the kind of chemistry that graces the silver screen once in a blue moon. There are scenes that feel less like you’re watching a show and more like you’re observing someone’s life through a window. As their relationship evolves through the seven-episode season, its palpability and intensity only grows.
While it sounds idyllic, this is not the perfect love story it seems to be. It’s macabre and raw, taking the grit of human emotions and elevating them to catastrophic levels that would pulverize characters that were anything less than supernatural. From the moment de Lioncourt decides his love for de Pointe du Lac is strong enough he wishes for him to spend eternity as his companion, the rational behaviors we call human quickly evaporate.
The all-consuming relationship between de Lioncourt and de Pointe du Lac only serves to grow more complicated when they add a fledgling vampire/daughter, Claudia, into their already chaotic family dynamics. Found family trope gone wrong is truly the only way to describe the trio’s tumultuous descent into blood, betrayal and pain.
While the series is brilliantly executed, new viewers should be encouraged to pay attention to the content warnings featured at the beginning of certain episodes.
“Interview with the Vampire” is a case study on what it means when the worst in you loves the worst in someone else. And with the filming of season two resuming in October after AMC’s deal with SAG-AFTRA, you have plenty of time to fall in love with the worst of it too.
