Carmilla (2019), a moody, sensual reimagining of Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic vampire novella, the titular character radiates a kind of otherworldly beauty that blurs the line between innocence and danger. Played with mesmerizing subtlety by Devrim Lingnau, Carmilla arrives like a whisper in a house filled with repression and silence, bringing with her a powerful undercurrent of desire, rebellion, and mystery.
Carmilla is a vision of soft darkness — pale, enigmatic, with eyes that seem to both observe and seduce. Her beauty is ethereal, almost dreamlike, heightened by the isolated 19th-century setting that keeps her presence suspended in a timeless haze. Yet she’s more than a mere gothic figure — there’s something defiantly alive about her. In a world that confines girls to obedience and spiritual purity, Carmilla exists outside those rules, and that alone makes her dangerous and captivating.
Her charm unfolds in quiet moments: the tilt of her head, a lingering glance, the way she moves closer than expected. She doesn't need to speak much; her presence speaks for her. There’s an intimacy to how she connects with Lara (Hannah Rae), the young woman whose curiosity and loneliness make her especially susceptible to Carmilla’s pull. Their relationship simmers with sensuality — tender, hesitant, yet undeniably charged. The film doesn’t rush their connection; it lets it bloom slowly, like a secret neither wants to name too soon.
Carmilla’s sexuality is as fluid and shadowed as her origins. She doesn’t hide it, nor does she flaunt it — it’s simply part of who she is. She draws Lara into a space where longing feels both frightening and natural, and it’s in this space that Carmilla’s power becomes clear. She is liberation disguised as temptation — a symbol of forbidden desire, yes, but also of self-possession and freedom from societal shame.
In Carmilla, Devrim Lingnau gives us a character whose beauty isn’t just visual — it’s atmospheric. Carmilla exists like a haunting — elusive, poetic, and deeply felt. Her allure is the kind that lingers in the blood and the memory, leaving both characters and viewers changed by her presence. In the world of gothic romance and queer longing, few characters are as spellbinding.
