Michael Fairbanks
I was never particularly fond of Taika Waititi’s vampire mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows. Great premise but just a bit too cute for me. Documenting the life of someone who can only barely hang onto their human existence and impulses has the potential to be deeply moving and gritty, not just grounds for sitcom-y shtick. Enter Nicky Murphy’s I Love Paris, a standout in Fantasia Fest’s 2026 lineup. This story follows someone whose ambitions are deeply sincere. Here, being turned into a vampire is a potentially devastating event, and through the course of the story, we watch this character reckon with her affliction and even toxically try to use it to her advantage.
We meet Paris (Aminata Thiboult) as she struggles to get a slot in a local music festival. We’re immediately endeared to hear upon learning that she promotes herself with I Love Paris merch, allowing buyers to express both their love for the city and her music all in one product. The promoters like her music, but she just doesn’t have the following. Aggravated, she fatefully decides to make a TikTok video in an abandoned tunnel.
Here she finds the vampire Lutèce (Leonor Oberson), who stalks and turns her shortly afterward. Paris initially shuns Lutèce but ultimately realizes that she is her only confidante aside from the documentarian capturing all of this. Lutèce claims that Paris will have to feed on 107 people to be fully transformed, and thus Paris decides that her victims will be those who stand in the way of her dreams.
I Love Paris is anchored by a transfixing performance by Aminata Thiboult. This is a tough concept to hold together for two hours, especially for someone who has only appeared in one feature (Leatherdaddy) prior. Yet, Thiboult completely sells Paris’ complicated arc. It’s hard not to like her right off the bat. She’s driven, snarky, and lively. It feels as though it is only a matter of time until her big break.
Once she turns, Paris becomes a lot more selfish and vindictive, but it is hard to blame her. We watch as her deliberate victim choices (she mostly feeds on industry people and refuses to eat other black folks) allow her to get a bit closer to her dreams. Her antagonistic dynamic with Lutèce feels completely lived in following a two-month time jump. Leonor Oberson is also both unnerving and oddly naturalistic. After a while, we start to forget that we’re watching vampires between actual victim attacks. These are very grounded, relatable characters in a deeply unfortunate situation.
It is hard not to think about how pissed Daniel Molloy from The Vampire Lestat would be if he knew he was missing out on this story. Especially since these are far more easygoing subjects than that bloodsucker. Nicky Murphy’s direction is brilliant. The handheld footage has a gritty, filmic look that feels perfectly suited for a music documentary that might find its way to Cannes someday. Despite its homemade aesthetic, it is one of the most polished-looking indies of the year.
Even though it never fully veers into the fantastical, I Love Paris builds its world beautifully. During the film’s strongest sequence, we visit a party full of vampires who all offer little asides over glasses of blood. We realize that this lifestyle has created a scene all its own and that there are probably dozens of messy stories occurring just outside of frame. If Murphy wanted to follow in Waititi’s footsteps and revisit this via a sequel or TV series, he’d have plenty to work with.
I Love Paris does slightly overstay its welcome. After a while, it feels as though Paris is stalking a revolving door of music industry scumbags who all have relatively the same personality. It feels hamstrung by budget, especially with how out of its way it goes to obscure the music festival that lies at the heart of Paris’ dreams. There’s also some third-act tension between Paris and Lutèce that feels a bit forced, leaving us in a suitably dark but somewhat unsatisfying place. The story doesn’t so much end as stop, for now.
While I Love Paris does draw upon many previous vampire stories, it finds an entirely original angle with which to revisit these themes. The affliction of being a creature of the night is treated as an inconvenience that delays the hustle. Death is something to be worked around rather than grieved. I suspect that viewpoint will resonate with many struggling artists who may happen upon this film, which has genuine potential to be a mainstream breakout as people seek out independent horror with new faces. It should certainly be a breakout role for Aminata Thiboult, who shoulders this with complete conviction. I Love Paris is one of the best vampire movies of the post-Twilight era.
