I’ve seen quite a few vampire movies in my day. Sunrise is unlike any vampire movie I’ve ever seen. The director Andrew Baird gives this movie the most unlikely vampire in a long time. The main character of the film is the antagonist, not the protagonist but the odd stranger aspect of the story makes the protagonist not as outgoing or out front as far as the story goes. 

Edward (William Gao) is a teen who gets bullied by a kid in his school. He is an outsider like the rest of his family, his mother (Crystal Yu) and his sister Emily (Riley Chung). They are of Asian descent not specifically said. They live in a small town controlled by Reynolds (Guy Pearce) and his mother (Olwen Fourere) They control everything in this community that they live in. When a mysterious Drifter named Fallon (Alex Pettyfer) comes into town he upsets the status quo.

This film has a mystery within its story. A Demon-like creature referred to as the Red Coat looms over this town and its people. That mystery unfolds itself as a vampire but nobody believes this can actually be a real thing. Flashbacks show a reason why this stranger has come back to this town. It was his home before a tragedy befell him years before. This backstory is a key element in why he has come back for revenge against the Pearce character.

Besides the main story, the director has chosen to use foreboding music and ominous-looking cinematography.  A lot of fog, cold, and darkness have taken over the screen most of the time. The distinct look and feel of the film gives it something that helps show audiences that this is not a lighthearted movie. It’s supposed to be very serious in its subject matter. The problem is the script could leave something to be desired.

Guy Pearce has been acting for a long time. Roles in LA Confidential,  Momento, The Rover, and many others have proven the fact that he can do almost anything he chooses regarding playing any character. He’s played the villain before in Iron Man 3 so once again he can do whatever role he chooses. The problem with that is that sometimes actors can be a bit over the top to make up for other flaws in the movie they are in. That’s the case here with Pearce, a genuinely stellar actor more often than not. He tries to make up for the bad script by being a bit crazy and angry all the time. Just to show he’s the antagonist. This isn’t the best work of his career.

Sunrise had an interesting premise: a stranger who gets rescued by an Asian family decides to help them against a bully of a man in a small town. We’ve seen this done before many times so it’s nothing new to me. The script is pretty simple as well. Pearce tries to do what he can to save this material but all he does is show an over the  top performance. He did much better than before in the past. The director Baird gave the film a great look and had a forbidding score which both helped but didn’t put me over the top to recommend this. It’s just not that good despite some good elements.

2 stars

Dan Skip Allen