Set in Bad City, Iran, a young man named Arash (Arash Marandi) struggles with working menial jobs and setbacks coming from his drug addicted father Hossein (Marshall Manesh) whose addictions have put the both of them in debt to drug dealer Saeed (Dominic Rains). Eventually Arash has a chance encounter with a girl (Shella Vand) and strikes up a romance with her, unaware she is a vampire who predates on the bad men within the city.
A Gril Walks Home Alone at Night is the feature debut of writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour. The film is an expansion on Amirpour's 2011 short film of the same name partially funded through Kickstarter with the film's goal of $55,000 exceeded with $56,903 raised from 290 backers. The movie became a hit with critics with many praising the style, direction, and performances of the film with many appreciating the thematic nods to vampire lore, spaghetti westerns, and horror. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a movie that requires patience of its audience, but those who are willing to give it will find a unique and stylish character-based genre blender whose vision overcomes its budget.
Amirpour's approach to the material is unique in that she takes a vampire, known only as The Girl, and frames her as a lone stranger who comes into town and while she does feed on those unfortunate enough to cross her path, she is not without morality as she only unleashes her appetites upon those she sees as deserving of them. The movie's usage of the fictional Iranian city of Bad City helps to give this film a unique identity especially since it's a very different portrayal of Iran than we're typically used to and it's made all the more impressive that it was filmed in Taft, California (primarily due to some of the content not meeting Iran's "standards"). Arash Marandi is really good playing Arash as he has this laid back charm with a slight rebellious streak you may remember from a younger Marlon Brandon or James Dean, Shella Vand is also quite good as The Girl and makes a solid anti-hero/romantic lead with Vand and Marandi having some great chemistry together. While I personally like this movie, I understand it won't be to everyone's tastes as this is a movie that does go in for long unbroken shots and a number of more deliberately paced scenes, but assuming you're willing to give the movie some leeway on that front it makes for a rewarding experience.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is visually and thematically impressive and made even more so by its frugal budget. With some solid leads, a unique take on vampires, and some strong visual language from Ana Lily Amirpour, I found a lot to like about this film.
