Dead & Beautiful (2021) is a surreal, psychological vampire drama whose slick sense of production warrants a watch despite a slim splattering of scares that carry more bark than bite.
As a stabbing slice of satirical horror, this arthouse indie-style thriller charts the lives of five money-rich Millenials - an entitled group of privileged rich kids living off wealthy family fortunes, who, surprise, surprise, transform into killer vampires motivated by a sickening lust for feasting on human flesh. (Beats boredom, right?)
Suppose, for a second, that vampires are subliminally symbolic of avaricious, self-indulgent lifestyles pertaining to the excessively rich and famous. In that case, Director Verbeek's script doesn't quite steer the final thrust with enough cutthroat force to fatally draw blood.
Then again, Verbeek does expertly craft a chilling distinction between the superficial world of luxury, and the opposite, offering a vivid, hallucinatory glimpse of lavish expense in all its material resplendency. What we are left with, is a sort of surreal depiction of elitist degeneracy, somehow grounded in human sentimentalities.
Beautifully shot and, at times, seamlessly cinematic, Dead & Beautiful delivers an arousing visual spectacle and compellingly told drama. Throughout which, a few late twists issue fleeting moments of suspense. Yet sadly, these high points are balanced by various plot discrepancies throughout, muddying the story's coherence.
Overall, I would recommend Dead & Beautiful for its immersive, Black Mirror style storytelling and striking visuals. Though deep-down, I'm not entirely convinced of its apparent underlying metaphor; that the extravagantly wealthy secretly loath their wealth and societal status.
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