‘Half’ Unleashes a Full-Throttle Vampire Road Movie [TIFF Review]

Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to watch an entire film about the sibling assassins from The Raid 2, but as vampires? Me neither. But if that sounds cool, you’re in luck, because that’s exactly what Indian filmmaker Samjad delivers with his sophomore feature, Half. It’s a lean, mean curry western blending the style of Sergio Leone with the utter brutality of something like this year’s The Furious, all baked under the scorching sun and drenched in gore.

Yeah, it’s a bloody blast.

Penned by Samjad and Praveen Viswanath, the film follows twins Ethan (Ranjith Sajeev) and Ivy (Aiswarya Raj), half-vampires thanks to their parents’ interspecies relationship. With a new job waiting for Ivy, the siblings set out across the Rajasthan desert. There, they encounter a ruthless band of highway thieves who viciously murder them and leave their bodies to rot. Or so they thought. Because once night falls, their vampiric ability heals the twins. Now, resurrected and pissed off, they hunt down the marauders who wronged them, intent on delivering the same brutality tenfold.

Half isn’t a film that overcomplicates itself. In fact, it’s about as simple as it gets. What Samjad unleashes is a pure, blood-soaked revenge tale fueled by unfiltered rage. Akin to Mad Max: Fury Road, once the film hits the gas about twenty minutes in, it never lets up. It’s a road movie with vampires where the destination is vengeance. There isn’t an ounce of fat on the bones. No time for rest stops, unless you count the twins pulling over briefly to bring furious pain down on one of the poor bastards who made the unfortunate mistake of messing with them. Hell, the twins barely even speak to each other, and not just because Ivy is mute. The filmmaker doesn’t spend too much time developing this story, because the violence is the story. And oh my, is there a lot of it.

Remember when I mentioned the siblings from The Raid 2? Well, that’s probably not a coincidence. That’s because Very Tri Yulisman handles the action choreography…the same choreographer behind the mind-blowing stunts of The Raid 2 and The Night Comes for Us. Yulisman’s talents shine on screen as we witness the twins kick, punch, and stab their way through mobs of well-deserving killers. To highlight the vampire theme, Ethan and Ivy turn anything they can into a stake, flipping the traditional vampire-killing weapon on their many foes. The two even utilize the body parts of their enemies, shoving the elbow bone of one man’s decapitated arm into his own face.

I cannot emphasize enough how gleeful the violence against the villains is, or how fun Sajeev and Raj are to watch in the roles. Nearly every single death when it comes to the bad guys is played with an almost cartoonish giddiness as they’re driven into by the twins’ gore-streaked car, shoved face-first into boiling water, or cut to pieces. From off-road homes to dusty bars and the hot wasteland of the desert, the twins enter each scene with a sizzling confidence that practically singes the screen. In one moment, they walk right into a house full of villains unannounced, as if they own the place. And by the end, they do.

Populating Half are despicable villains that have you bloodthirsty for their demise. That makes the gory whirlwind fight scenes that much more satisfying. See, Half expresses early on just how vicious the marauders are, showing no mercy to kids. The first act is so brutal that it almost comes as a surprise once more humor begins to creep in. Samjad wants us to feel the same rage as the twins, and the same satisfaction coursing through their veins as they enact karmic justice. In that sense, the filmmaker succeeds brilliantly.

I haven’t even mentioned yet the stylish energy that keeps Half’s heart pumping. Midhun Mukundan delivers a score infused with shades of Ennio Morricone. Pappinu’s frenetic camerawork throws you around in the middle of pummeling brawls. That all complements Ethan and Ivy’s nightclub vibe, with Ethan decked out in a bedazzled cross tee and Ivy sporting headphones that glow with the rhythm. Samjad’s sophomore feature is an effortlessly cool vampire movie that delivers on exactly what it promises. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Half doesn’t rewrite the vampire genre. Nor does it feature villains with any personality that reaches beyond “bad guy”. As I said, there’s not much meat on the bone. But that doesn’t stop it from being the rousing, bare-knuckled brawl with vampires that it is. Like the best road movies, Half isn’t about the destination…it’s about the ultra-satisfying, ultra-bloody justice, and the many, many bodies left behind on the way.

Sink your fangs into Half. Meaty vampire tale or not, it’ll leave you feeling full.

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