This is a vampire movie.
You won’t hear the word “vampire” ever mentioned in the film. There are no fangs, no coffins, no bats, no bursting into flame in the sunlight, no stakes through any hearts. There’s no blood drinking, except maybe for one brief shot. Nevertheless, this is a vampire movie. And a really good one.
Blurring the lines between a cinematic “vamp” and the mythical vampire from which the word originates, STARRY EYES invites the viewer to ask him/herself how far he/she would be willing to go in order to achieve fame. The protagonist of the film is willing to go all the way, essentially bartering her soul. As a result, she becomes a vampire in all but name, evolved into a higher form of life that possesses no moralistic qualms where killing is concerned. She has become the personification of Fame, of Hollywood, and, as watching her go through the process was so torturous (for her), her eventual rebirth feels like a cause for celebration when it ought to be a cause for mourning. Fueled by a powerhouse performance from actress Alexandra Essoe (who subbed for Shelley Duvall as Wendy Torrance in DOCTOR SLEEP and appears in THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR and is on her way to earning true Scream Queen status), STARRY EYES is one not to miss.