The Transfiguration

Milo (Eric Ruffin) is a 14-year-old boy, an outsider, and a target for bullies and gang members. He’s also a vampire. He lives with his brother Lewis (Aaron Clifton Moten), a former soldier and gang member, in a rundown New York project.

They are alone as their father died when he was young, and their mother committed suicide, an act that had a traumatic effect on Milo who now has a fixation with vampires and blood; he’s always watching them, on his own, in his bedroom. Into his life comes Sophie (Chloe Levine) she too has her difficulties and forms a bond with Milo.

The film deals with the social aspects well and elicits some sympathy for Milo, though only up to a point. He’s does some horrible things, which could possibly be explained by his problems but the fact that he also robs his victims tends to dilute sympathy for him. It also deadens the vampiric and supernatural elements of the film.

Ruffin, in his debut as a lead, has a difficult role and it is a solid portrayal of a person suffering from a deep psychological trauma, though he’s difficult to know and like. The equally troubled Sophie is much more likeable thanks to a subtle performance from Levine. They do strike an odd pair but as the film progresses it becomes more understandable.

Director and writer Michael O’Shea has littered to film with references to many other vampire films though Martin and Nosferatu are the most obvious. That gives the temptation to compare and there were thought of revisiting the aforementioned classics, which is probably not what O’Shea had in mind.

The shaky camera work did annoying at times but O’Shea has an eye for composition and he and cinematographer Sung Rae Cho capture the brutality of the area starkly.

Although The Transfiguration has elements of horror, it is not a horror film per se. The backdrop of Queens, New York plus Milo and Sophie’s mental and social problems lean it towards a social commentary, and an insight into mental illness.