The Blood Countess review – Isabelle Huppert reigns supreme in a surreal vampire fantasia

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Vienna turns into a playground of camp, cruelty and aristocratic disdain in a blackly comic take on the Báthory legend – with Huppert gloriously suited to the title role From the dark heart of central Europe comes a midnight-movie romp through the moonlit urban glades of Euro-goth and camp from German director Ulrike Ottinger. As for the star … well, it’s the part she was born to play. Isabelle Huppert is Countess Elizabeth Báthory, 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer, legendary for having the blood of hundreds of young girls on her hands and indeed her body, in an attempt to attain eternal youth. The “blood countess” has been variously played in the past by Ingrid Pitt, Delphine Seyrig, Paloma Picasso, Julie Delpy and many more, but surely none were as qualified as Huppert who importantly does not modify her habitual hauteur one iota for the role. Her natural aristocratic mien and cool hint of elegant contempt were never so well matched with a part. She gives us the ...
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Solo review – joyful yet heartbreaking story of drag artist consumed by toxic relationships

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Théodore Pellerin is outstanding as Simon, a performer navigating a bullying boyfriend and a distant mother in Sophie Dupuis’s sad and celebratory film

Théodore Pellerin is a star, and director Sophie Dupuis knows it. In their third film together, the rising Canadian actor is at once magnetic and utterly heartbreaking as Simon, a young gay artist honing a budding career as a drag queen. At night, he transforms into Glory Gore, a glittery vision dressed in exquisite costumes that have been lovingly designed by his sister Maude (Alice Moreault). Off stage, Simon is much less self-assured, despite his swagger. An unexpected visit from his absent mother Claire (Anne-Marie Cadieux), along with a toxic romance with fellow drag performer Olivier (Félix Maritaud), soon throw this sensitive soul into an emotional whirlpool.

Dupuis’s astute writing keenly conveys the paradox of falling for a narcissistic manipulator. At first glance Olivier is a perfect creative and life partner, but soon whittles down Simon’s self-esteem with jabs about the latter’s talent and looks. As the relationship grows more dysfunctional, Dupuis pushes Pellerin to the edge of the frame, a visual correlation of his isolation among his real-life and drag family. Pellerin, moreover, embodies the character’s turmoil with stunning physicality; his quivering gaze betrays a vulnerability that starkly contrasts with his larger-than-life stage persona – and yet, like a boiling frog, he also luxuriates in the attention of his cruel lover.

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