A jobless concept artist falls in love with a mysterious woman who turns out to be a vampire. Their intense romance spirals into codependency, exploring the intoxicating nature of love and addiction. A film by Peter Stylianou & Sean Cronin, starring Ruaridh Aldington, Madalina Bellariu Ion, Craig Conway, Angela Dixon, Natasha Patel, Andrew Lee Potts, and Andrew Lyle-Pinnock.

In London, aspiring artist Thomas (Ruaridh Aldington) lives with his mother (Angela Dixon) while building his drawing portfolio and hoping to land a job soon. When he discovers his mother is dating John (Craig Conway), a pest control guy, he becomes frustrated and makes up an excuse to leave the house.

Despite Thomas’s reluctance, his mother insists he show John to the basement. (This scene feels puzzling – why can’t Thomas’s mother show John the basement herself? Is she hoping John will mentor Thomas somehow?) Thomas stands his ground after John scolds him about cleaning his room per his mother’s request, asserting that he’s a grown man who can make his own decisions.

Thomas visits a local bar where his friend Dano (Andrew Lyle-Pinnock) works as a bartender. There, he’s struck by a mysterious woman who looks exactly like the heroine from his drawings. The woman approaches Thomas and introduces herself as Rhea (Madalina Bellariu Ion). Suddenly, Thomas experiences a strange vision of a blood-covered hand. Their encounter is cut short when Rhea disappears into the crowd.

The next day, Thomas flees the house, disturbed by the sounds of his mother and John having sex. He visits Dano hoping for information about Rhea. Dano reveals that despite asking around, he learned Rhea doesn’t have a phone. He also mentions finding it strange that she has no social media presence, which he finds suspicious. Thomas dismisses these concerns, insisting that Rhea is just different from others – and that’s exactly what he likes about her.

That evening, Thomas gets into a heated argument with his mother when she tells him to move out because John is moving in. Thomas becomes agitated when his mother and John suggest he could sublet John’s flat in Hornsey. Before he knows it, Thomas finds himself kicked out of his mother’s house, suddenly facing the pressure of finding a job to pay rent on his own.

Weeks later, Thomas gets a call from Dano saying Rhea is at the bar. Thomas races over, only to find her with another man, presumably her boyfriend. When Thomas confronts Rhea about their encounter weeks earlier, she just stares at him blankly. Feeling humiliated, Thomas leaves and takes the bus back to his flat. Upon arrival, he’s startled to find Rhea behind him, suggesting she followed him home. Rhea asks if Thomas is going to invite her in, cryptically adding that her date “didn’t taste nice.”

Rhea asks Thomas to sleep beside her. In the middle of the night, Thomas awakens to a pain and is shocked to find Rhea sucking blood from his wrist. She reveals herself as a vampire who needs to feed. Panicking, Thomas locks himself in the bathroom while Rhea reassures him through the door that there’s nothing to worry about – the wounds will heal very quickly. Before leaving his flat, she leaves her home phone number in case Thomas wants to see her again.

The next part is where the narrative loses steam as Thomas inexplicably falls madly in love with Rhea – not through meaningful conversation or shared interests, but through his addiction to the intoxicating sensation he feels when she drinks his blood. The film becomes repetitive with virtually no story progression for almost 30 minutes.

While some scenes add humor and depth – like Thomas fearing he’ll turn into a vampire after being bitten, or Rhea playfully pretending to be hurt by sunlight when she isn’t – they don’t justify the extended runtime. Another revealing moment shows that Rhea’s elderly companion is actually her former partner, foreshadowing Thomas’s own future if he continues this relationship. Yet puzzlingly, this doesn’t deter Thomas at all. Did the filmmakers really need 30 minutes to convey these points?

Directed by British filmmakers Peter Stylianou and Sean Cronin from a screenplay by Stylianou, DRAINED is a horror-romance that follows a young man who falls for a mysteriously beautiful woman who turns out to be a vampire. The film offers a fresh take on vampire mythology, incorporating several unexpected twists that set it apart from traditional vampire lore.

The climactic scene arrives in the third act, though it doesn’t come as a complete surprise — Rhea had already warned Thomas that her bloodlust would peak on the night of the full moon, a craving she wouldn’t be able to control (yes, much like werewolves). What unfolds is a visceral, brutal kill, but it doesn’t end there. The tension continues to build as Rhea, now a crazed vampire, relentlessly hunts Thomas down, killing anyone who stands in her way.

Adding to the chaos is a twist involving Detective Inspector Linda Rathbourne (Natasha Patel) and Edward Finch (Andrew Lee Potts). As the story unfolds, it’s revealed that one of them is also a vampire, deepening the mystery and raising the stakes even further.

DRAINED premiered at Marché du Film at Festival de Cannes on 14 May 2024. The film was released on VOD in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2025.

Marché du Film, also known as the Cannes Film Market, is one of the world’s largest and most influential film markets. Established in 1959, it takes place annually alongside the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France. The event serves as a major platform for film professionals, including producers, distributors, exporters, importers, and festival representatives, to network, discuss business opportunities, and engage in film sales and co-productions.