Let me pose a philosophical dilemma to you. What would you be like if you were a vampire? And…are vampires truly evil, or are they just doing what’s necessary for their survival? Both questions I found myself asking after watching The Addiction at Fantastic Film Festival.  

The Addiction is a film made for people who relish in the absurd. The film follows philosophy PhD student Kathleen Conklin (played by Lili Taylor), who finds herself slowly transforming into a vampire after being lured by an Italian femme fatale into a dimly lit lane. What follows is her internal journey of moral relativism as a newcomer to the bloodsucking lifestyle. Although occasionally hard to follow, moments of dark humour delivered by Peina (played by Christopher Walken) shine through the convoluted fabric of the script. Peina’s dry comedic timing, combined with Kathleen’s university student angst, make the film worth watching in it of itself. A big warning follows, however, if you hate irony, philosophical discussions and relentless gore, this movie might not be for you.  

The Addiction uses vampirism as a metaphor for everyday addictions in our lives. Bloodsucking isn’t a tendency that vampires can control, and we observe Kathleen’s inescapably human struggle, knowing that what she does is wrong, despite its necessity for her survival. Christopher Walken’s character represents a complex detoxed vampire, sharing his sobriety with Kathleen after she hits rock bottom, reminding her of the control she must develop in order to tame her cannibalistic desires.  

Through Kathleen’s university tutorials filled with philosophical debate around death and sins, she is forced to reflect on how her own violence affects the world. Featuring archival footage of the dead bodies from the holocaust and the Vietnam war, director Abel Ferrara prompts the audience to reflect on the ongoing violence of humanity. Although The Addiction was released in 1995, this commentary seems more relevant than ever. Ferrara gets us all to question, are vampires really that bad… or are humans much much worse? 

The Addiction remains timeless through the film’s technical aspects, including most notably, its neo-noir visual style. Shot in black and white, with heavy contrast and use of low lighting, Ferrara echoes films of Hollywood's film noir past and plunges them into 1990s New York. Moments of the film scream 90s, including Kathleen's trenchcoat-heavy wardrobe and various characters’ styles, but even though this film is over 30 years old, it still appears to relate to 2026 audiences. 

In the beginning of Kathleen's vampiric inner dialogue, she does everything she can to avoid killing. She begins by extracting blood with a syringe from a presumably dead homeless person, but as time moves on, she becomes more comfortable and more violent with her human harvesting. Kathleen rapidly becomes more manipulative with her killings, with many vampires in the film blaming victims for being responsible for their own deaths. The director actively comments on victim blaming in scenes which appear overtly similar to sexual assault stories. Through “Why didn’t you just fight back?” sentiments, the audience are shown just how absurd questions like these seem in the violent inescapable reality of the victims. 

If nothing else, The Addiction is a cult classic for sure. It has everything audiences crave from a genre film: a killer hip-hop soundtrack, a unique visual style and a relatable lead. The only thing that the film lacks is its feeling of underlying intellectualism and discernible plot, which by the end of the film made me question if I had actually watched the same movie as half the Letterboxd reviews had. Although, in the Fantastic Film Festival Crowd, I got the feeling that this was all a part of the film’s quirks. Either way, The Addiction is definitely a title to add to your next watchlist, especially if you’re anything like me and a bit vampire-obsessed.