“Iranian Vampire Western” is not a genre we’ve heard a lot of before, to put it mildly. But damn if Ana Lily Amirpour’s directorial debut doesn’t nail it – or bite it, as the case may be. Her moody and atmospheric horror was shot in California, which is made to feel like an inbetween nowhere zone – a blur of depressing suburbs and box houses echoing the flatness of run-down Los Angeles, that city of broken dreams.
The blend of Western and Middle Eastern cultures is palpable throughout, and is conjured, in particular, by an evocative soundtrack. Serene (Sheila Vand) is the Hepburn-eyed character of the title. She wears her flowing hijab like a symbol of empowerment, gliding through the Bad City in the fashion of a dark angel.
She is a vampire – a night-time warrior wreaking revenge on men who victimise women. Entering the den of a misogynist to find his abode cloaked in clichéd wildlife prints and mounted animal heads, it is she who turns predatory. And, in a superb scene, she follows an older man who enjoys cat-calling women on the street, and simply tracks his every move. Impossibly chilling.
In cinemas May 22