Arterton and Ronan's characters have the determination and brio of true heroines.

| Aug 29, 2019

It's melancholia at its most trying.

| Sep 5, 2018

Arresting, gory and surprising, this flight-of-horror fantasy is wonderfully acted for post-Twilight vamp lovers craving something altogether eerier but emotionally resonant.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 5, 2017

Female-forward and class-conscious, allegorical and adventurous, Byzantium is almost the anti-Batman.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 30, 2017

Clara becomes more the subject of Jordan's empathy than the object of his lust (although there's some of that, too).

| Nov 4, 2013

Jordan is no stranger to the yearnings of vampires. He directed Interview With the Vampire. But Byzantium is a kinder, gentler yet pretty durn bloody affair.

Full Review | Jul 12, 2013

Go ahead, bite.

| Original Score: B | Jul 12, 2013

A drama that feels both strenuously earnest and impossible to take seriously.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 12, 2013

Byzantium has a few moves that might surprise you. They have nothing to do with blood, but everything to do with the heart.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 11, 2013

A confusing yet eye-pleasing tale that struggles to breathe new life into the well-worn mythology.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 11, 2013

Byzantium offers a twist or two on the traditional vampire mythology ... but otherwise [its] gothic atmosphere and air of tragedy feel awfully familiar.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 11, 2013

Neil Jordan's sensitive and very slow exploration of vampire angst. That the film also seems intended as some kind of vampire feminist statement makes it a rare combination of mildly boring and mildly hilarious.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 5, 2013

The story drags a bit, bouncing back and forth in time in a manner that is sometimes useful, sometimes not. Overall, though, it's an intriguing addition to the genre.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 4, 2013

It's a pleasure to see a vampire movie that aspires to something artful, and that explores the misery that comes with living - forever - on blood, and in the shadows.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 4, 2013

[An] exquisite, lovely film, in which contemporary characters struggle to suspend their disbelief in vampire lore while Jordan's eye for formal beauty and truthful performances suspends ours.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 3, 2013

The film slows and slumps as it ventures into a historical backstory, complete with a mysterious brotherhood, an ancient map, and Sam Riley in a wig worse than death.

| Jul 1, 2013

Lines like "The pearl stays pure while the oyster's flesh rots around it" or "Would you like to kiss me? In celebration of my wickedness?" confound any efforts to make them sound less than ridiculous.

| Jun 28, 2013

Mother/daughter conflict runs deeper - and much, much longer - than usual in this gorgeous, brooding, fascinatingly female-centric vampire saga, which also gushes waterfalls of blood.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 28, 2013

With Twilight finally over, we're not exactly hungering for more vampire movies, but Neil Jordan gives us something to savour with Byzantium, his second bite at the genre.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 28, 2013

"Byzantium" dares to rework "Twilight" with twice the teen moping and Robert Pattinson replaced by a guy with the sexual magnetism of a sickly Ron Weasley.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jun 28, 2013