VAMPIRES on screen have always been big business, but trust innovative director Jim Jarmusch to provide a bold twist on the theme with his latest offering.

Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton play starcrossed undead lovers, Adam and Eve would you believe, who have been an item across the centuries but now live on different sides of the globe. Adam seldom ventures out at night in Detroit and Eve slips in and out of the shadows in Tangier where she enjoys after-hour tipples with Marlowe (an excellent portrayal in worldweariness from John Hurt).

However, bucking the traditional vampire trend, their preferred good stuff comes from the bottle or stylish hip flask, rather than seeking out victims to gorge on. There’s one particularly nice scene where Adam, a reclusive rock star, launches into a fascinating dissertation on the latest classic guitar acquired for him by his underling Ian (Anton Yelchin). Then later he takes Eve for a midnight drive around Detroit’s former glories after she goes to visit him.

However, their timeless love is threatened when Eve’s wild child younger sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) decides to pay them a visit and causes mayhem with her traditional bloodcraving ways.

In all, a highly impressive piece from Jarmusch.

Bruce Hawksbee