The Vourdalak

The Vourdalak (original title: Le Vourdalak) is a 2023 French gothic horror-drama film and the feature directorial debut of Adrien Beau. Co-written by Beau and Hadrien Bouvier, it is adapted from Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy's 1839 novella The Family of the Vourdalak.

When the Marquis d'Urfé, an emissary of the King of France, is attacked and abandoned in a remote rural region, he takes refuge in an eerie, isolated manor. The family that reluctantly shelters him behaves strangely while awaiting the return of their father, Gorcha; when Gorcha comes back seemingly no longer himself, the situation descends into a full-blown nightmare. Shot in Super 16mm, the film features a score inspired by Nino Rota's music for Fellini's Casanova. Starring Kacey Mottet Klein, Ariane Labed, Grégoire Colin and Vassili Schneider, it premiered in the Critics' Week section of the 80th Venice International Film Festival and was released theatrically in France in October 2023 to critical acclaim.