Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) also released under the title Humanist Vampire Too Sensitive to Kill, is a 2023 Canadian French-language vampire comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Ariane Louis-Seize. It stars Sara Montpetit as Sasha, a teenage vampire who befriends Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard), a boy with suicidal tendencies.

Plot
Although descending from a line of vampires, Sasha struggles immensely with the morality of killing people for their blood. When Sasha was a child, her Aunt Victorine hired a clown to perform at her birthday party. After a magic trick gone wrong, Sasha’s family decided to eat him in the hopes that doing so would cause Sasha’s fangs would sprout. After Sasha refuses to feed on the clown, her parents take her to a doctor who diagnoses her with PTSD. At the age of 68 (although she resembles a teenager), she spends her days playing keyboard outside a local convenience store for money. Sasha’s parents are on the verge of cutting off her blood supply, as she still refuses to hunt for her own food. Because of this, they send her off to live with her older cousin Denise. One night, Sasha tries to feed on a suicidal high schooler named Paul after he tries to jump from atop a building, but she fails and Paul learns of her vampiric nature.

Out on the streets, Denise tries to teach Sasha how to hunt by luring away a man named JP. Sasha is still reluctant to hurt humans and, as Denise is feeding on JP, attracts attention before running off. Wandering aimlessly at night, Sasha heads into a support group meeting for depressed and suicidal people. There, she reunites with Paul. Outside, Paul and Sasha reach a mutual agreement that she will assist in his suicide in exchange for her feeding on his body.

Sasha takes Paul to Denise's house, where JP has now become a vampire. Sasha tries to bite Paul as they talk about their lives and listen to music, but struggles to. Sasha asks if Paul would like to do anything before he dies, Paul responds by saying that he would like to get payback on Henry, his coworker who constantly bullies him. However, Paul decides to change his mind after finding out that Henry is at a party; he decides to get payback on a popular girl at his school, his gym teacher, and his principal.

Paul and Sasha make one last stop at the former’s house, where Paul leaves a suicide note for his mom, only for her to come early from work. He introduces her to Sasha, who says little, and leaves. At the party, Henry taunts Paul, only for Paul, inspired by Sasha, to bite Henry’s hand open. Sasha collapses from hunger and Paul takes her to a park, where he cuts his own hand to feed her his blood. Henry and his friends then find Paul and Sasha, and they start beating Paul up. Sasha's fangs emerge to protect Paul; she hurls one of Henry’s friends in the air and kills Henry by draining him of his blood. Sasha demands that Paul return home.

After Denise arrives to bury Henry, she demands that Paul must die because of his knowledge of vampires. Sasha knocks Denise out with a shovel and returns to Paul. Both plan to run away together, but in their hotel room, Paul starts doubting their success and begs Sasha to kill him. When she refuses, he asks her to turn him into a vampire, which is also denied. At Paul's insistence, Sasha decides to kill him by draining his blood. However, Paul is able to return to life as a vampire thanks to the help of Sasha's family, including a reluctant Denise.

Sometime later, Sasha and the vampiric Paul arrive at a hospice. Paul and Sasha head into an elderly terminal patient’s room, where Sasha serenades the patient with her keyboard as Paul, with the patient's consent, kills them by draining their blood into a bag.

Production
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person was shot in fall 2022 in Montreal.

Release
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2023. The film had its Canadian premiere in the Centrepiece program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, and received a gala screening at the 2023 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival. It also screened in the Noves Visions section at the 56th Sitges Film Festival. Drafthouse Films acquired distribution rights for the United States, with the film being released in Los Angeles and New York on June 21, 2024, before expanding to more cities the following week.

Critical response
Nikki Baughan of Screen Daily wrote that "Louis-Seize leans heavily into European arthouse influences for her French-language production. Sasha — who is, in fact 68 (although still a teenager in human years) — is presented as something of an ingenue, her long dark hair, blunt fringe and doe eyes giving her both a vulnerability and an intriguing edge. She listens to vinyl, she plays the keyboard, she is by nature (and necessity) a loner. Her connection with Paul is immediate and surprising, and the chemistry between the two is authentic."

The film was included in TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list for 2023.