A harrowing look at lust and obsession through the lens of blood-suckers.
The Big Picture
- Vampires in film started as allegories for lust, evolving into sexy playboys in the ’90s to romantic leads today.
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Trouble Every Day
reimagined vampires as depraved and violent sex addicts, grounded in human desires and perverted libido. - The film explores dark sexual desires and violence, showing the struggle for self-control and the haunting nature of sexuality.
Sexuality is something that has fascinated creators of fiction since time immemorial, and one genre in particular that explores carnal desires from an interestingly original, often dark, and even grotesque angle is horror. Within horror, there’s a certain movie monster that has been used to allegorically comment on the carnal impulses of lust and sexual desire for a long time now: The vampire. The classic novel of Dracula by 19th-century author Bram Stoker had riské elements of sexuality and sexual dominance infused with its titular creature, with his power to hypnotize and submit women to his will. This gave the entire concept of Dracula a subtle hint of supernatural eroticism, a trait that only grew stronger with each new iteration and cinematic decade, eventually leading to the “horny vampires” movement of the ’90s, and later into the mostly romanticized and non-threatening vampires we see in films today.
The 1992 Francis Ford Coppola adaptation, Bram Stoker‘s Dracula, was the first “horny” reinterpretation of the classic tale, leading to vampires becoming even more sexually charged, while more mainstream films began exploring the sexiness of night-dwelling blood-suckers. Interview With The Vampire then came along starring two of the time’s biggest sex symbols, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, painting them as supernaturally beautiful and angelically striking playboys. A few years later, the new millennium was struck with the ultimate teen heartthrob title of the 2000s in the Twilight Saga. Vampires have since become more romantic than scary, with only a few films exploring the terrifying implications of vampirism infused with superhuman libido. But before Twilight and Underworld, arthouse horror fans were treated to a truly intense and disturbing vampire film: 2001’s erotic thrillerTrouble Every Day. Almost in direct response to the “horny vampires” of the 90s, Trouble Every Day succeeded in making vampires scary again by painting them in a grounded, realistic, and perverted light, serving as an allegory for over-impulsive, unfaithful, and even violent sexual desires found in the darkest parts of the human psyche.
Trouble Every Day
Two American newlyweds in Paris experience a love so strong, it almost devours them.
- Release Date
- July 11, 2001
- Director
- Claire Denis
- Cast
- Vincent Gallo , Tricia Vessey , Béatrice Dalle , Alex Descas , Florence Loiret Caille , Nicolas Duvauchelle , Raphaël Neal , Jose Garcia
- Runtime
- 101 Minutes
- Main Genre
- Thriller
- Writers
- Claire Denis , Jean-Pol Fargeau
What Is ‘Trouble Every Day’ About?
Brought to us by French Arthouse icon Claire Denis, Trouble Every Day is perhaps best described as a grim and erotic psychological drama, more so than an all-out horror film. It’s not going to satisfy the desire for jumpscares and tension of the average Blumhouse fan, what with its notably slow-burn pace, cryptic storytelling, and low body count. Still, there is a constantly building sense of dread lurking in the back of your mind when watching, and much like other films in the New French Extremity Movement, patience is eventually rewarded with stomach-churning gore. Towards the third act, a couple of key scenes will undoubtedly push the film way past the barrier of entry for horror in the eyes of even the most seasoned genre veterans. Certain images will be burned into the brain of the viewer with bouts of strong, sudden, and shockingly sexual body horror that would make both Pedro Almodóvar and Gaspar Noé wince.
The film follows a newlywed American couple honeymooning in Paris. The husband, Dr. Shane Brown (Vincent Gallo), claims to be “happy” with his wife June (Tricia Vessey), and that he looks forward to his stay in the city of light with her. However, he hides an ulterior motive for coming to Paris. Shane is plagued by dark sexual desires that he both fears and cannot escape, leading him to secretly and obsessively try to track down a doctor he once worked with on an investigation that took place in the Amazonian rainforest. The doctor that Brown is trying to track down is a libido specialist called Léo Semenau (Alex Descas), a man who has since retreated from the scientific community to try and cure his wife and fellow field investigator Coré (Béatrice Dalle) of what seems to be the same terrifying ailment that plagues Dr. Brown, implying they both contracted it when in the Amazon.
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Coré is kept in a padlocked and boarded-up room to keep the men of Paris safe from a horrifyingly sadistic, painful fate at her hands, although she still manages to periodically break out and find unfortunate victims. Meanwhile, Dr. Brown frantically paces around Paris, much to the confusion and growing mistrust of his wife June. He harasses old colleagues and associates in an attempt to find Léo and Coré to, hopefully, cure the disturbing ailment of sexual impulses he feels before he’s too far gone to control them. Will Shane find Léo and Coré? Will they be able to help him? Or will he fall victim to these almost supernatural, sexually violent desires that plague his mind? Watch to find out!
How ‘Trouble Every Day’ Makes Vampirism A Believable “Disease,” More Than A Curse
This film is deeply ambiguous, with barely any dialogue throughout, and most key plot points are left open to interpretation or to be deciphered by the audience from quick and mysterious conversations that are notably lacking in exposition. Still, it’s pretty safe to say that both Shane and Coré suffer from an unnamed, unknown virus of some sort, likely picked up when conducting a study on libido relating to plants in the rain forest. The virus grants them two key ailments: they can supernaturally hypnotize and infatuate the opposite sex with what seems to be some sort of powerful pheromone; and they have an incessantly growing desire to commit violent sexual assault and consume blood, becoming ravenous, sadistic, blood-sucking animals when cornering their prey. Basically, the virus has turned them into depraved and violent sex addicts, more so than immortal hellspawn.
There are no large, protruding fangs popping out of their jaws on command like in most vampire tales. No big, blooming contact lenses or prosthetic face makeup to make Coré and Shane look like monsters when entering their feeding and f***king frenzies like you would see in the Blade series or The Lost Boys. There’s no ailment to garlic, crosses, or other religious artifacts, distancing this particular breed of vampirism from the religious/demonesque undertones that most often go hand in hand with this monster. There’s not even an explicit weakness to sunlight, although there’s an implied aversion to it. Shane seems lethargic whenever the sun is high, and Coré comes across as more powerful in both physical strength and in her power to hypnotize men whenever she’s enshrouded in darkness. This brand of vampirism is simply some form of erotic disease that makes the carrier powerfully hormonal, horny, and bloodthirsty as hell, making these characters afflicted with vampirism feel far more grounded and believable than most.
How ‘Trouble Every Day’ Twists The Concept Of Vampires Into A Disturbing Allegory
The understated, subtle, and notably grimy form of vampirism at the heart of Trouble Every Day leads to the powerful allegory that the film states: To be plagued by dark, uncontrollable sexual desires is to be cursed to a life of shadows, guilt, and misery, coupled with the undying need to satisfy a ravenous and unending addiction — much like a vampire. There’s no need for grand, supernatural powers and weaknesses or extended lore on the rules and origins of vampirism, as the realistic depiction of these characters’ warped and violent libidos is more haunting than turning to ash in sunlight or being immortal beyond a stake to the heart. These characters can’t control the feral, violent, and horny-as-hell animal within them, making for a terrifying exploration of self-control and the ethics of sexuality.
Although Trouble Every Day explores the minds of monsters in a somewhat empathetic, or at the very least, amoral light, the film by no means justifies the sexual assault, torture, cannibalism, and murder these characters commit. The film explicitly shows the unforgivable pain caused by the true evil behind such diabolical acts (which are even more disturbing to watch following accusations made against Vincent Gallo) while also relying on a notably female perspective. The film doesn’t justify or forgive — it simply shines an uncompromising light on the nature of dark sexual desires, painting them as diseases that plague humanity and need to be cured. Both Coré and Shane are deeply troubled by their condition, even expressing suicidal thoughts about acting on their impulses, but they can’t help themselves. The entire nature of the film is very cryptic and understated, making it a cold, clinical, alienating film that isn’t for everyone. However, it explores some unsettling taboo territory in a way most directors wouldn’t dare attempt. So, whether you enjoy the film or not, there’s no denying the prowess of Claire Denis’ uncompromising vision.
Overall, Trouble Every Day is a slow-burn and subtle film, building up tension and an ambiguous plot with a “show don’t tell” mentality. But once the gore-drenched and shockingly psychosexual mayhem kicks off, most viewers will be deeply disturbed by the horrors they’ll witness. It’s very much a French Extremism film in how it uses sex and sadism to provoke even the strongest stomachs while providing strong commentary on humanity’s capacity to commit heinous acts to satisfy our deepest, darkest impulses. It’s not for everybody, what with its deliberately cold and lifeless tone, a fact that is highlighted by the film’s polarizing critical reception. But if you enjoy thought-provoking, allegorical cinema with heavy subjects and an even heavier shock factor, you may enjoy this arthouse erotic horror.
Trouble Every Day is available to stream on AMC+ in the U.S.
This article was originally published on collider.com