Bit

I’ve been waiting for this one. Bit is a vampire horror comedy with a transgender lead character played by a transgender actress. The vampires in the film are unapologetic misandrists who feed on men. So of course, if you look at the IMDB rating, it’s super low because men got triggered. And while I do think there the film could have used more nuance on this subject, it was a really nice change to see a feminist vampire movie complete with queer and trans representation.

The film follows small town girl Laurel. Laurel goes to stay with her brother in L.A. for the summer. Of course, almost as soon as she gets there, she crosses paths with Duke and her gang of misandrist vampires. Duke’s gang feed indiscriminately but try to target men for crimes ranging from internet trolling to rape. Duke is also adamant that her crew never turn a man into a vampire. Laurel initially meets the crew at a club through Izzy, who flirts with her. Izzy’s initial plan was to eat Laurel after spending the night together. However, Duke decides Laurel would be a good fit for their gang and turns her into a vampire. But to complete the transformation, Laurel has to feed on a human. Laurel fights against her growing hunger while learning from Duke about why her gang of vampires is so adamantly against men.

Much as I love what Bit stands for, its commentary and themes can be a little on the nose. The film opens with a woman turning her male lover into a vampire. Then, Duke comes along and begins to give a monologue about how this hot, white guy probably thought he was the centre of the universe and the protagonist of a vampire film. Then, Duke kills him. That’s the level of subtly we’re dealing with. There’s also a great deal of talk from the female vampires about how vampirism is empowering and gives them agency. It’s not that I disbelieve this but more showing and less telling about how drinking people’s blood is somehow empowering could have been useful.

On IMDB, the average rating is really low and the reviews talk about how the movie is sexist against men. Is that true? Honestly, yes. Duke and her crew absolutely fit the descriptor of misandrists. However, by Duke’s own admission, they’re not the good guys. She describes them as a terrorist organization. And as Laurel comes into her own, she begins to question this radical anti-man stance given that she has positive relationships with some men in her life. I genuinely can understand why men might not like to see this but it’s also sort of hard with me to sympathize. Bit is one movie. Whereas many, many older movies I watch are overtly sexist against women in terms of both onscreen violence and reductive stereotypes.

One scene of male violence in particular is worth noting. Duke has kidnapped a man who she describes as being a sexist Reddit and Twitter troll. We all know this kind of guy, the one who sends death threats to women because they liked a video game he didn’t or something. By Duke’s logic, the crimes of being an internet troll means he deserves to die. Obviously, in real life I disagree with this. But I have to commend writer/director Brad Michael Elmore for the absolute audacity to make the film’s unappealing victims be basically the most reactionary and triggered group available. Honestly, I would have liked to see more of this theme as the internet response to this movie has been vile in some circles and the film itself seems aware of such a group of people yet only really touches on it in this singular scene.

As far as the vampire stuff goes, Bit doesn’t add much new to vampire mythos and tropes. Honestly, it is a pretty standard vampire movie but with a focus on diversity. I do still celebrate Bit because everyone deserves to have vampire representation in the media. However, I also know had this film been otherwise the same but had a more common set of lead characters (cis people and men), I wouldn’t be championing it.

Honestly, I like what Bit stands for more than I like the film itself. Bit is a great idea and in execution it’s still a pretty fun movie provided you’re not a triggered, anti-SJW snowflake. However, the third act and end of the film is disappointing and it doesn’t do anything new with vampires. I’m still absolutely thrilled this movie exists and fully recommend it but I’d qualify it as more of a fun movie than an actual good movie.

Overall rating: 5.9/10

Other WLW films in similar genres