“Take from Me” is an Appalachian Sinister Slow Burn
It’s a tale as old as time. A beautiful woman comes to town and catches the eye of a guy who is grieving. West Eldredge’s Take from Me, originally titled Love Dogs, is an example of one such tale. This atmospheric thriller is a story of loss told through the lens of something sinister, a little otherworldly and intimate, without losing the human at the center of it. Take from Me comes from a long line of small-town thrillers and manages to carve its own path along the way.
John (Ethan McDowell) is the sort of sad man you can immediately picture. He has his own seat at the local bar, where he finds himself most evenings. John is a shell of the man he once was and a ghost in his own town. The place he frequents most is the old farmhouse that used to be his. A mysterious woman from out of town, Elizabeth (Kyla Dyan), is the new inhabitant, and John finds himself watching her. What he doesn’t realize is that Elizabeth is watching him as well. As the two get to know each other, they both realize there’s something deeper lurking beneath the surface.
courtesy of Take from Me
Take from Me doesn’t take long to reveal itself as a vampire flick, but not of the sparkling or sensual variety. In the media, vampires are usually used as a metaphor for lust, sexuality, and desire. Their thirst for blood speaks to the idea of consumption, of sucking someone else dry to maintain their own way of life. Take from Me doesn’t go the sensual route. Sure, there’s something alluring about Elizabeth that draws John into her web, but not in the way vampires of the past did so. Instead, she speaks to his grief, the deep well of sadness that he cannot shake.
Elizabeth speaks to John’s loss. When you experience something traumatic, it’s easy to shut down. To hide within yourself and cut off the rest of the world to wallow in the unbearable weight of losing someone. Elizabeth recognizes this within him because she has experienced it herself. Take from Me doesn’t culminate in breaking the cycle of grief. Instead, it shows how easy it is to resign oneself to isolation, pain, and trauma. It’s a fantastic use of the vampire trope, one that shifts the audience’s perception about these mythical creatures and their role in the media. To live forever is to spend eternity remembering, when no one else is left. To live forever is to be the sole remnant of generations long gone, the sole caretaker of a way of life that no longer exists. Take from Me masks itself as a slow burn of a thriller, but it’s really a melancholic exploration of the hold grief has on all of us.
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