Review
The Vampire Lestat is an American gothic horror television series created by Rolin Jones for AMC which is based on the second book in The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, starring Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac and Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt.
After two seasons focused on Louis, it is time to shift the storyline to Lestat himself and he becomes the central focus this season. After discovering the publication of Interview With The Vampire, Lestat reacts badly and sets out to tell the world his own version of the story through his music. A couple of years later, Lestat releases his debut album and heads on tour with Daniel Molloy who is filming a documentary. The band are operating under the premise that Lestat is a human faking being a vampire but the music is revealing secrets about the vampire world and his fellow vampires are not happy. However, the music also has an unexpected side effect as the memories start to fracture his mind and he is heading full tilt into a breakdown.
The Vampire Lestat is quite a long novel and there is a lot of extraneous stuff to unpack so you can see why the writers have chosen to focus more on the modern age with flashbacks to the past. I’ve seen a lot of criticism that season is shallow compared to the previous two seasons but I totally disagree because there are so many layers within each episode you really have to pay attention to catch them. I’ve watched each season multiple times now and I’m still picking up on things I missed first time round, particularly with how the seasons link to each other and scenes that play out differently. There is a lot of stuff that book readers will spot first but there are also concerts that are new that have caused some controversy. The biggest shock is when we learn Lestat has been involved in a damaging incestuous relationship with his mother, Gabriella (Gabrielle in the book), which has upset a lot of book fans who love her character. I can understand why the show runners wanted to go down this road and Lestat’s trauma is hard to watch.
The shift in tone is a sharp one from the previous seasons so it is somewhat jarring initially but the first episode is hilarious as Lestat ends up high after drinking some tainted blood. All sorts of shenanigans ensue culminating in a fang fight with regional vampires which leads to one of Louis’s hotels being trashed. A subsequent meeting between Lestat and Louis with their respective lawyers is hilarious as it comes across as a divorce settlement hearing before an angry Lestat later performs in front of Louis on stage. One of my favourite parts in the entire season is when Lestat stops time, floats up to the balcony and confronts Louis with his own annotated version of the book. The melody that is being played when Lestat moves towards the balcony is beautiful and it all looks magical as Lestat is caught in the glare of the lights.
Of course, the breakdown in their relationship means Louis and Lestat are apart for much of the season but they are never far from each other’s thoughts. Louis is given his own journey as he tracks down the vampire who sexually abused Claudia and gets his revenge. Along the way, he befriends a waitress who is the spitting image of Claudia and becomes transfixed with her but I hated this storyline as it was a plot device to bring Delainey Hayles back. The moments when Louis and Lestat reunite are precious when they happen and their connection is still very much at the heart of the show. Just as it appears a reunion is on the cards, Armand goes all Mad Scientist and nearly ruins it all. The finale sees Lestat and Louis doing some soul searching before we move to a glimpse of the future where Montreal lies in ruins and Lestat is blaming himself. A season four renewal means we are heading towards Queen of the Damned territory but it would have been nice if Lestat’s own story had been given more space.
All of the cast are on top form as you would expect, however Sam Reid is extraordinary as Lestat and I have been blown away by his performance this season. As a longterm reader of Anne Rice’s books, I never in my wildest dreams believed anyone could play Lestat as he is so complex but I’m happy to have been proven wrong. As well as all the acting, Sam had to learn how to play musical instruments and work with a vocal coach, but it turned out Sam has a great voice so the show producers must have been high-fiving themselves. The songs were written by Daniel Hart, who composes the score for the show, and they are closely tied in with the storylines so much so Sam insisted on performing them live during filming to ensure authenticity.
The first episode was premiered in a theatre in New York and it was followed by a concert with Sam performing on stage in character as Lestat for about half an hour which is extraordinary since he is not a professional musician. It was this concert that drew me into watching the show as I kept catching videos online and it is absolute genius PR. An album, The Failures, has also been released on most streaming platforms under The Vampire Lestat and it is highly addictive to the extent I can’t stop listening to it. The best songs are when Lestat enters his rock ballad era as they feel more honest. The songs also start out being quite shallow until Lestat finds his voice and starts to be more honest about how he feels.
Sam Reid is a phenomenal actor, as is Jacob Anderson, and it breaks my heart that Anne Rice did not live long enough to see them bring her Lestat and Louis to life. She would have loved them.
