Peter Stylianou and Sean Cronin’s “Drained” (2024) offers a jarring genre mash-up. While a supernatural horror film, it also offers a tragic romance in a late coming-of-age tale. It follows a slacker artist who falls for a bloodthirsty vampire. Stylianou’s script tries to portray a sense of dread and hopelessness through its gloomy narration. The film casts Ruaridh Aldington as twenty-something Thomas and Madalina Bellariu Ion as his romantic interest, vampire Rhea. Angela Dixon and Craig Conway play the key supporting roles.
Spoilers Ahead
Drained (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“Drained” revolves around a concept artist who wastes his youth living off of his mother. Amid his unemployment blues, he crosses paths with an alluring vampire and falls for her. Their romance leads him to a shocking fate.
What happens in Peter Stylianou and Sean Cronin’s ‘Drained’?
“Drained,” the supernatural horror film, revolves around Thomas (Ruaridh Aldington), a twenty-something concept artist, who is unemployed and uninspired. He spends most of his days lazing in his room and doesn’t help his mother (Angela Dixon) in any way. Instead, he feels entitled to her love and support without contributing anything to their mutual well-being. It doesn’t bode well for his mum’s new partner, John (Craig Conway), who expects Thomas to accept his responsibilities as an adult. He moves into their house and forces John to move out to figure out his next course of action.
Thomas applies for a creative job only to realize that he is underqualified for the role. While wandering hopelessly through the streets, he crosses paths with Rhea (Madalina Bellariu Ion), a vampire. She lures him into a bed without revealing her true identity. Once in bed, she starts feasting on his blood, leaving him unconscious. He wakes up, terrified, and locks himself in the bathroom to clean the bite marks. After she leaves, he wonders what it means for their relationship. She appears to be the woman of his dreams, someone he may have pictured in his concept art. However, he can’t stay with her as she sucks the life out of him.
Thomas and Rhea’s relationship
Thomas decides to give in to his urges and gets into a relationship with her. After they cross their honeymoon phase, he wakes up to the shocking reality. He becomes increasingly lifeless and anemic. Still, he takes her to his mum’s place for dinner. In the middle of a conversation, Thomas accidentally starts bleeding. Rhea starts sucking the blood, which worries his mum. Still, Thomas follows Rhea who storms out of the house. Around this time, he meets Rhea’s other lover, who looks suspiciously older for his age. Instead of seeing it as a sign of caution, Thomas stays with her.
Their relationship goes through a rough patch as Thomas grows less interested in her. While she craves his blood, he seeks the simple joys of life. So, she tries to make him jealous by dancing with a stranger in the bar where he bartends. It makes him predictably upset. He confronts the stranger for getting close to her. It ensues a fight that puts him in a hospital.
His mum visits him there and feels sorry for him. She worries for his safety and brings him back home. Thomas returns to his old behavioral pattern. He becomes selfish and erratic. Thomas refuses to grow up and behave responsibly. He doesn’t accept his fault for the state of his life. Instead, he resents John or his mum. So, John begrudgingly moves out, which sours Thomas’ relationship with his mum.
Drained (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
What happens to Thomas in Rhea in the end?
Thomas moves back home, expecting things to go back to the way they were. However, his mum doesn’t treat him how she once used to. She holds a grudge against him for not caring for anyone else’s joy but his. Thomas feels rejected by her. So, he walks out to Rhea’s house, hoping this vampire will be his source of comfort. He enters her apartment to find John dead, lying in her bathtub. Moments later, Rhea attacks Thomas since she is still hungry for blood. Thomas returns home, worried about Rhea’s possible attack. He tries to explain his bite marks to his mum, who fears that her son is doing drugs.
Soon, Rhea shows up outside their house. Thomas’ mum tries to protect him. She faces Rhea with a knife only to be killed by a fall from a considerable height. After this accident, the authorities bring Thomas to a mental health institution until they clear him from the charges of killing Thomas and his mother. While there, Thomas still cannot let go of thoughts about Rhea and he is in the grip of paranoia. Eventually, the authorities set him free. Thomas returns home to a life that he presumably does not want to live anymore. So, he returns to Rhea’s house.
Thomas finds Rhea with her next victim, draining the life out of him. Thomas tries to kill her with a knife. Soon, the police show up there to find Rhea’s dead body lying in a pool of blood. Thomas stands aside feasting on her blood. Before the cops can arrest him, he magically flies away. The film’s final moments show Thomas as a vampire, approaching a woman for her blood like how Rhea approached him.
Does Thomas really meet a vampire and become one?
“Drained” appears to be an allegorical tale about people preying on others in their most vulnerable moments. Rhea approaches Thomas when he was at his rock bottom. Eventually, Thomas approaches an anxious young woman, sitting alone at a bar. So, they prey on the emotional weaknesses of people to quench their endless thirst. In that context, the film can also be seen as a parable for Thomas’ state of life. Everything he witnesses after being thrown out of his home may be his imagination. He looks at Rhea as a source of comfort after feeling rejected by his family and his vocation. She coincidently looks similar to the concept drawings he used to make. So, she may just be a figment of his imagination.
There are a few scenes that can counter this theory when others acknowledge the presence of a vampiric creature. The cops mention the bite marks on the victims. Thomas’ mum sees Rhea approaching him for blood. However, if the story is shown through Thomas’ eyes, it can be interpreted as a part of his imagination. Until then, he had used his art to cope with his unsuccessful life. He drained his mother by not supporting her. Once reality kicked in his life, he felt drained by the pressures of the world. So, Rhea appears almost like a replacement for his mum, as the alternate source of comfort.
Drained (2024) Movie Review:
“Drained” offers a genre blend as it presents a seductive romance in its supernatural horror tale. At its core, it is a late-coming-of-age tale of an adult, failing to rise to the challenges of life. He is a slacker, who contributes nothing to the lives of those around him. He latches onto any source of comfort without facing life’s harsh realities upfront. The film is not necessarily critical of his life choices. However, it uses his frailty to extend its central themes where they either battle or succumb to a sense of lifelessness.
The characters drain each other, whether literally or symbolically. They take some steps when things become unbearable. However, they are prone to falling back to their old behavioral patterns. The film is mildly amusing because of that underlying subtext. However, it does develop this concept to its potential. Besides, the tonal shifts between different genres often appear odd and jarring. While the family drama is moderately effective, the vampiric romance is poorly developed.
The film brings out the neon-lit streets or locations to accentuate its seductive eeriness. However, that rarely helps it be as effortlessly charming as something like Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive.” While the character feels a sense of dread, it does not translate nearly as well on screen. Ruaridh Aldington makes his central character appear lifeless as expected. Craig Conway brings sufficient intensity to his role as a roadblock in Thomas’ joy. However, none of it saves the film from its odd and jarring transitions.
