THE TRANSFIGURATION (Michael O’Shea)

Michael O’Shea’s The Transfiguration is basically the second American remake of Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In (namechecked TWICE here).

Only this time, the main character is the social-outcast vampire, one obsessed with depictions of his own kind in popular culture (thus the namechecking).

In the same way that the OG juxtaposed Dracula’s life with that of a woman’s in the 21st century, O’Shea likens the vampire experience to black lives in America today. The ingenious parallels drawn still don’t prevent The Transfiguration from feeling like a 90-minute exercise in diminishing returns.

Its most memorable aspect is the externally subdued yet internally vast performance by Eric Ruffin, impressive for a member of the under-18 set.

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