Only Lovers Left Alive

2013 Directed by Jim Jarmusch

A depressed musician reunites with his lover in the desolate streets of Detroit. Though their romance has endured several centuries, it is tested by the arrival of her capricious and unpredictable younger sister.

Tom Hiddleston Tilda Swinton Mia Wasikowska John Hurt Anton Yelchin Slimane Dazi Jeffrey Wright Ali Amine Carter Logan Aurélie Thépaut Dave W. Ego Sensation Nick Name Yasmine Hamdan Hamza Kadri Marc Codsi

Alternative Titles

Amantes Eternos, Přežijí jen milenci, Armastajate igavene elu, Samo ljubavnici preživljavaju, Isgyvena tik mylintys, Tylko kochankowie przeżyją, Samo ljubavnici opstaju, Sadece Asiklar Hayatta Kalir, Μόνο Οι Εραστές Μένουν Ζωντανοί, 오직 사랑하는 이들만이 살아남는다, Les derniers amants

romance drama

123 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★★½ 11

I love Jim Jarmusch so much lmfao
Review by Adam Cook ★★★★ 29

Jim Jarmusch’s latest may feature some familiar vampire iconography, whether it be the pallid anti-heroes or their thirst for blood, but Only Lovers Left Alive is as much a lament for the death of art and culture as it is about a centuries old love story. It is also the director’s best film in years, a haunting and hypnotic mood piece less interested in clever plotting and more about its heady nocturnal atmosphere.
Tom Hiddleston stars as Adam, a vampire sinking into a melancholic and existential funk, who is stranded in a decaying and abandoned Detroit whilst left alone to create symphonic drone music. He is reunited with Eve (Tilda Swinton), his centuries old lover who is still aware of…
Review by Hollie Horror ★★★★★ 28

The wealth of knowledge vampires must amass after thousands of years is fully realized in Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive. Even though most vampire films have explored the longevity of the immortal, we very rarely see them reminisce about Nikola Tesla, the Spanish inquisition or Charlie Feathers' music. They adapt, survive, evolve, dance, read, make music, and most importantly - they love.
Adam is a wistful poet, secluded in his decrepit house in Detroit where he spends most of his time writing funeral music and contemplating suicide. His wife, Eve, lives in Tangiers, surrounded by books in various languages with only enough space in the middle of her floor to dance. Their interests may be different but they respectfully…
Review by brat pitt ★★★ 3

if your kink is watching vampire tom hiddleston & tilda swinton make out for 2 hours then
1. that sucks
2. i can't believe someone actually heard your plea & made this movie
Review by davidehrlich ★★★★½ 2

welp, i guess i have a new favorite Jarmusch movie.
Review by Jonathan White ★★★★½ 40

TIFF 2013 – film #3
Reason for pick: director Jim Jarmusch, Tilda Swinton, my wife’s love of all things Vampire.
It was a rainy day. Literally. Standing in line at the Bloor Cinema with the clouds wide open was really starting to affect my normally bright and cheery mood. Granted, this was a Jim Jarmusch film, but I really only know him by reputation, as I’d only seen Down by Law, and Broken Flowers. There was the Tilda Swinton factor. Love her. I couldn’t think of a bad film she was in until our friend Len reminded me of I Am Love. Hated that one. The real reason I’m here, standing in the rain, is my wife’s love of Vampire…
Review by matt lynch ★★★★½

honestly i'd be perfectly happy being one of these "people" only probably obsessing over movies rather than books or music. but then maybe with all that time i'd be able to manage all three and finally learn about those other two things. sounds pretty great.
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½ 9

I love Jim Jarmusch.
I love Tom Hiddleston.
I love Tilda Swinton.
I love Mia Wasikowska.
I love John Hurt.
I love Anton Yelchin.
I love Jeffrey Wright.
And I ADORE this film.
I never thought that I'd ever watch a movie,
Which made me wish I was a vampire.
Review by Tasha Robinson ★★★★

Leave it to Jim Jarmusch to find a new angle on the hoary old subject of vampires: The bored-immortal hangout movie, featuring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as an ancient undead couple with no particular urgency about anything except possibly keeping each other alive. The movie completely lacks a sense of drive or urgency, and it keeps the plot to a minimum—if anything, it might have been better off without even the little drama it does have, since the plot touches compromise the story and briefly turn it into something that feels more intense, and dropping back into immortal torpor afterward is a little dissatisfying. But this is a beautifully acted and textured movie, a weird, syrupy, sleepy experience that…
Review by katie ★★★★★ 1

I'm trying to pinpoint my favorite part of this film.
There's too much to choose from.
I'm just going to say everything.
Review by Esteban Gonzalez ★★★★½ 3

“How could you have lived so long and still not get it?”
Jim Jarmusch brings a fresh spin to the very familiar vampire tale and delivers a solid and unique film that is unlike any other from the genre. Only Lovers Left Alive will stand alone considering it lacks the horror and action elements that the classic vampire films always introduce, and it also avoids the romantic cliches as well. It is an existential vampire film where you have two very distinct characters. On the one hand there is Tom Hiddleston’s character who has been around for centuries and is living in Detroit along with his growing music collection. He has grown weary with the way humans (or as he…
Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★ 6

Love the style and thoughtful pace! Characters were inviting enough! But it lacked the "IT" factor!
"IT" factor being that thing that makes it memorable! Makes you long for a sequel! The thing that pushes a film beyond the ranks of the mediocre!
Considering the talent and theme involved I was taken aback by the storylines lack of ambition!

Recent reviews

Review by Alyy ★★★★

You mean to tell me that everything I've been doing this quarantine, including making up weird dances, lying on the floor with music, going through existential crises and looking pale and vaguely unsettling with my robe and greasy hair would look cool af if it was immortal tilda swinton and tom hiddleston doing it
Review by cabellerina ★★★★

I ordered an all white linen outfit because of Tilda Swinton in this movie.
Review by Thebanjohype ★★★★

i'm obsessed with that wall of portraits in adam's house more than anything else in the film, and this film has so much to obsess over
Review by Rob D

Stylish but a few too many corny ‘we’re dead!’ jokes or cheap historical references for me to really get into it. Some great moments for sure, though.
Review by Sophia_Pap ★★★★

Ο τρόπος που συνυπάρχουν, οι κινήσεις τους, η οικειότητα που έχουν,σου μεταφέρει τους αιώνες που έχουν ζήσει. Είναι εραστές. Και για να το αποδώσεις αυτό θέλει τέχνη. Η μουσική υπέροχη.
Review by filmasdream ★★★★★

You don't get films like that very often!
Review by mildturtle ★★★★

Oses fores kai na th dw to you drank ian tha me kanei panta na lugizw:)
Review by dikapr ★★★★

Love, Blood and Rock & Roll.
Review by Akaash Dutta ★★½

Weak Jarmusch
Review by giulietta ★★★★★

Tom Hiddleston stars as my ex boyfriend and boy do i not miss that pretentious moody piece of shit
Review by Barbara ★★★½

Raramente o estilo de Jarmusch é tão inerentemente adequado ao seu conteúdo. Quietude e silêncio, as virtudes cardeais de seu método, nunca foram tão pertinentes como em Only Lovers Left Alive. Seu filme foi filmado pela óptica da tristeza e da beleza, com um humor seco e a certeza de que até mesmo as coisas feitas para durar para sempre, na verdade, não duram. É tão elegante, surreal e diferente do que é feito no gênero, que não dá para ficar entediado.
Review by Xanvier Allison

Eve: I'm sure she'll be very famous.
Adam: God, I hope not. She's way too good for that.
Jarmusch's take on classic vampires is mostly concerned with grievances about modern society with humans, often referred to as zombies. While the cultured vampires make up a kind of aesthetic aristocracy.
Jarmusch's band SQÜRL composed the score, together with experimental lute player Jozef van Wissem.
The scene that really stayed with me to an intensely intimate live performance by Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan.
Camera: Arri Alexa Plus, Cooke S4 Lenses
(Jim wanted to shoot this movie on film, and has a general distaste for digital, but used Arri Alexa for budgetary reasons. The Cooke S4 Lenses allowed him to work with low lighting)