Christabel

In the last 10 minutes of Christabel, something happens that I considered a major plot twist. As I now compile this review, I realize it was perhaps more telegraphed than I initially thought. There are… hints to this twist on the poster. I will still wait until the second-last paragraph to talk about this revelation for anyone who, like me, failed to see this in hindsight, obvious revelation. Honestly, I think I had a better time with Christabel because of my own ignorance. That final 10 minutes went hard as hell and heavily impacted how I ultimately viewed the movie (positively).

Christabel lives in a rural part of Brazil with her father. She is everything a good women should be; quiet and obedient. Despite having a fiance, Christabel is also pretty sexually repressed. Meanwhile, the fiance has affairs in town, safe in the knowledge that Christabel rarely leaves the family homestead. One night, Christabel finds an injured woman on the edge of her property. The woman, Geraldine claims three local men assaulted her. Christabel takes Geraldine in and nurses her back to health. But Geraldine has an increasing influence on Christabel. She’s got ideas about a woman’s place, her worth and her sexuality which are new to Christabel. However, some of Geraldine’s beliefs are harmful. While Christabel’s father is travelling, he encounters a man who tells him a series of parables. The last of these stories is a warning to the father about the danger Geraldine’s poses to Christabel.

Christabel has a light magic realism or even a fairy tale element. Its story is largely one of female oppression and human connection in a limited location. But director Alex Levy-Heller instills this story with some dreamlike moments and imagery leading up to the conclusion. Christabel’s home seems to be a bubble, outside of everything else. When her father leaves, it appears that several days pass back home while her father is told parables in what we assume is a single day. There’s also the fact that some of the threats of the outside world don’t seem to permeate the location. Geraldine was apparently attacked by three locals. But once she crosses onto Christabel’s property, it’s safe, somehow. In this environment, Geraldine doesn’t appear to experience trauma or fear and instead, is able to represent freedom and sensuality, something she encourages in the sheltered Christabel.

The depiction of Geraldine as untrustworthy and outright evil troubles me. When we first meet Geraldine, she’s been brutalized by three men. Yet the film often underscores her statements about hating men as something threatening or villainous. The parables guy outright compares Geraldine to a snake. I don’t think she deserves that description for doing things like introducing Christabel to the concept of sexual pleasure and expressing distrust of men. Of course, as the film progresses, it becomes increasingly possible that Geraldine is lying about her attack. Which is obviously, also pretty horrible. However, given real-life statistics about sexual violence versus the comparatively minute number of women who lie about this, it’s a troubling angle for the film to take. Ultimately, I worry that Christabel may be of the belief that women who are liberated and embrace their sexuality are dangerous.

The last ten minutes changed my thoughts on this, however. While having sex with Christabel, Geraldine reveals she’s got fangs. Christabel was a vampire movie this whole time! Apparently, the film is a re-imagining of the poem “Christabel”, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. But with this final twist that the mysterious stranger who seduces woman turns out to be a vampire, the film actually feels like a more accurate adaption of Carmilla than most actual adaptions of Carmilla. This twist changed my mind mostly because I just enjoy a vampire. But it does at least somewhat reframe the sexism too. There’s a long history of female vampires representing a fear of female empowerment. The Blood Spattered Bride being a notable example. As much as I still think the film’s gender politics are out of date, making the lying, manipulative misandrist character an actual vampire helps a lot in my opinion.

I went on a bit of a rollercoaster with Christabel. I went from intrigued, to slightly bored, to increasingly offended. And then those lat ten minutes happen and the film really left me on a high note. Through all of my emotional states, it’s also unavoidable how beautifully shot this film is. I question Alex Levy-Heller’s gender politics, but dude knows how to set a shot and establish an atmosphere. The film is a slow, sensual fairy tale with a surprise at the end that felt like it was just for me. If it didn’t have what seems to be such outdated views on gender, this film would rank even higher in my opinion.

Overall rating: 6.5/10

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