The Marquis d’Urfé serves as the audience‘s surrogate—an educated, urban outsider who is initially skeptical of the family’s “peasant” superstitions. His gradual, horrified realization that the folklore is terrifyingly real mirrors the viewer‘s own journey from detached observation to visceral dread. His presence also highlights the cultural clash between Enlightenment rationalism and the lingering, primal fears of the rural world.
| Aspect | Details | | :--- | :--- | | | The Vourdalak (French: Le Vourdalak ) | | Director | Adrien Beau (feature film debut) | | Screenplay | Adrien Beau, Hadrien Bouvier | | Based on | The Family of the Vourdalak by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (1839) | | Starring | Kacey Mottet Klein, Ariane Labed, Grégoire Colin, Vassili Schneider | | Cinematography | David Chizallet | | Music | Maïa Xifaras, Martin Le Nouvel | | Release dates | 2 September 2023 (Venice Film Festival); 25 October 2023 (France); 28 June 2024 (US) | | Running time | 91 minutes | | Country | France | | Language | French | | Box office | $78,527 | | US Distributor | Oscilloscope Laboratories | The Vourdalak
Zdenka lurched to her feet. “Do not say his name.” | Aspect | Details | | :--- |
Beau, alongside cinematographer David Chizallet, shot The Vourdalak on Super 16mm film, utilizing a narrow 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio. This technical choice makes the movie feel less like a 2023 release and more like a unearthed relic from the late 1960s or early 1970s. The visual style pays clear homage to: The visual style pays clear homage to: The
The Vourdalak , particularly in France, and holds a 96% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics . However, audience reception has been more divided:
The Vourdalak stands as a landmark debut for director Adrien Beau. In an era of increasingly homogenized genre filmmaking, it dares to be strange, slow, and uncompromisingly artistic. It is a film that prioritizes texture, mood, and theme over action and conventional scares, offering a rich, rewarding experience for patient viewers who crave something different.