There’s nothing new about TV vampires, and the story of “Interview with the Vampire” is even less new. And yet somehow, AMC’s adaptation of the Anne Rice classic feels like something we haven’t seen before. It’s sensitive, disturbing, charming, and beautiful, and while it’s violent, there’s a grandiose penchant for violence, as seen in Episode 1 when Lestat (Sam Reid) punches right through a man’s head. Is. If you’re feeling like there’s nothing new to say about vampires—which is understandable, given their pop culture fondness for them—you might be surprised by what you find here.
For the most part, the new series retains the broad strokes of the original story and the 1994 film adaptation. A journalist, Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), is interviewing a man named Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson), a vampire who has little to say about his complicated relationship with his creator, Lestat de Lioncourt. There’s a lot to do. But in this story, Daniel is much older and is dealing with a Parkinson’s diagnosis.
It’s 2022, and he’s managed to stay healthy despite the pandemic, and he and Louis are old… not friends at all. They are tense acquaintances, having met for several interviews in the past—including one in San Francisco, as in the film. Louis calls Daniel halfway across the world for one last chat, hoping that Daniel understands him, his lifestyle, and the people he loves. But now Louis is no longer a plantation owner in the 1700s who punishes his peers for feeding slaves. Now, Louis is a queer black man who was born in the late 1800s and made a living and did his best to avoid trouble by running a brothel in a New Orleans neighborhood called Storyville.
Lestat, a hundred-year-old vampire who cares little in the world, is impressed to see Louis in a fight in front of a brothel, and strikes up a friendship that quickly turns into more than him. The question then becomes what “more” actually means. Louis admits that he always knew he was gay, and that he and Lestat certainly share an attraction and several steamy sex scenes (including a threesome or two), but do they love each other? We do? Can they ever really love each other equally, when Lestat is the one who forced Louis to become a vampire?
And then there’s Claudia (Bailey Bass), the young girl that Louis wants to save from dying in the fire. She is black, and she is now older than in the original story, but she is still a child whose existence complicates Louis and Lestat’s relationship even more. For Louis, she is the daughter, or at least the loving family, he can no longer be in the form of a vampire. As for Lestat, he’s just a little vampire who has to learn how to survive and grow. Louis is trying to have his cake and eat it too, giving Lestat to no end. Meanwhile, Claudia is growing up mentally but not physically, and senses that she is trapped in a messy situation with these two men, which prompts her to act increasingly violently. .
Five of the first season’s eight episodes were given to critics for review, so it’s not yet clear whether the show holds up on landing, or how it sets up Season 2 (which has already been ordered). . But what is clear is that this adaptation found a way to breathe new life into a story written nearly 50 years ago, respecting the original idea and turning it on its head.
Louis is a black man who has to deal with the open racism of the early 20th century as well as the trauma that comes with being a vampire in an emotionally abusive relationship with a manipulative older white man. It is part of the story, but it is not all. He is also a gay man with complex feelings for someone who gave him a new life, and for his newfound abilities as a vampire. He cannot visit his family during the day or have children of his own, but he can read thoughts and live forever. Is that enough for a bargain?
Since the 1994 film version of “The Interview,” we’ve been filled with human, romantic vampires. “Twilight,” “The Vampire Diaries” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” gave us centuries-old vampires obsessed with self-destruction toward human teenage girls. Immortal men with magical powers fight their demonic instincts to raise a fragile human who is less afraid of him, while we fight about which team we are on. Which undead killer should he date? Whose history of brutal murders can we more easily forgive? That’s not happening here, and it allows for a different exploration of what it means to live forever. There’s still romance here, but the vampirism is somehow made both more and less appealing than in previous shows.
The only downside is that the framing device leaves little room for suspense. Much of the story, at least in the first few episodes, is told via voiceover and montage, and time passes quickly, which makes it hard to realize what’s really going on. The real test of the series will be what lies ahead, as the relationship between Louis, Lestat and Claudia explodes and the present-day story comes to a head with an increasingly irritated Daniels.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, there’s no reason to think that the back half of the season won’t be as good as the front half, but there’s room for it to get even better.
“Interview With The Vampire” premieres October 2 at 10:05 p.m. ET/PT on AMC and AMC+.
