''Carmilla'' is a 2019 British romantic vampire horror film written and directed by Emily Harris in her

feature directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

. Based on the 1871 novella of the same name by Sheridan Le Fanu, it stars

Jessica Raine Jessica Raine (born Jessica Helen Lloyd; 20 May 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Jenny Lee in the television series ''Call the Midwife'' (2012–2014) and Verity Lambert in the television film '' An Adventure in ...

Hannah Rae Hannah Rae (born 18 July 1997) is an English actress. She came to prominence in her 2016 feature film debut ''City of Tiny Lights'', for which she was nominated for the Most Promising Newcomer Award at the British Independent Film Awards. Film ...

Devrim Lingnau Devrim Lingnau (born 1998) is a German actress. Life Devrim Lingnau was born in Mannheim, Germany to a Turkish father and a German mother and grew up bilingual. During school she studied ballet and attended the Academy of Dance at the Universi ...

Tobias Menzies Tobias Simpson Menzies (born 7 March 1974) is an English stage, television and film actor. He is known for playing Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in the third and fourth seasons of Netflix's series ''The Crown'', for which he won the Primetime ...

, and

Greg Wise Matthew Gregory Wise, born 1966, is an English actor and producer. He has appeared in several British television programmes and feature films. He played the role of John Willoughby in ''Sense and Sensibility'', which also starred Emma Thompson, ...

. The film follows a lonely woman preyed upon by the titular vampire. ''Carmilla'' premiered at the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

on 28 June 2019, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 16 October 2020.

Premise

Lara lives with her father and her strict governess, Miss Fontaine, in total isolation, and is struggling to find an outlet for her curiosity and burgeoning sexuality. When a carriage crash nearby brings a young woman into the family home to recuperate, Lara is enchanted by Carmilla. The pair strike up a passionate relationship, which strikes fear in the heart of Miss Fontaine, and a complex triangulate emerges between the three women.

Cast

as Miss Fontaine *

as Lara *

as Carmilla *

as The Doctor *

as Mr. Bauer * Scott Silven * Daniel Tuite as Paul the Stableman *

Lorna Gayle Lorna Gayle is a British actress and singer, known for appearing in the films ''Run Fatboy Run'' (2007), ''The Dark Knight'' (2008) and '' One Day'' (2011). In 2015, she played Shontal in the BBC Three sitcom '' Fried''. As Lorna Gee, she won a ...

as Margaret

Production

Pre-production

On 17 August 2017, ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' reported that Jessica Raine and Tobias Menzies had been cast in the film, joining Hannah Rae, Devrim Lingnau, and illusionist Scott Silven in the production.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

on 11 September 2017.

Release

''Carmilla'' had its world premiere at the

on 28 June 2019. The film was originally set to be released in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2020 by Republic Film Distribution, but it was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

; it was ultimately released in cinemas on 16 October 2020 and through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

on 19 October. In May 2020,

Film Movement Film Movement is a North American distributor of independent and foreign films, which is based in New York City, founded in 2003. History Film Movement was founded in 2003, and has released more than 250 feature films and shorts. Having grown fr ...

acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film and released it in

virtual cinema Virtual cinema is a video-on-demand streaming service facilitated by independent film distributors and art-house theaters to release new films and share profits. Under the service, part of the admission price supports a physically located theater. ...

s on 17 July 2020.

References

External links

*
''Carmilla''
at Bird Flight Films
''Carmilla''
at Altitude Film Entertainment
''Carmilla''
at British Council – Film {{carmilla 2019 films 2019 horror films 2019 LGBT-related films 2019 romantic drama films 2010s coming-of-age drama films 2010s horror drama films British coming-of-age drama films British horror drama films British LGBT-related films British romantic drama films Coming-of-age romance films Films based on horror novels Films based on Irish novels Films based on works by Sheridan Le Fanu Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films set in the 18th century Films shot in East Sussex Lesbian-related films LGBT-related coming-of-age films LGBT-related horror films LGBT-related romantic drama films British romantic horror films British vampire films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films