Film

Bloodsuckers

Name: Bloodsuckers
Genre: Horror
Cast: Ing-Marie Carlsson, Lennart Jähkel, Jesper Salén, Josefin Sonck, Amanda Eklund

A Swedish horror film about a frazzled mother on a family holiday who gets bitten by mosquitoes and discovers a transformative, darkly comic liberation in their venom. It's a body-horror comedy that uses bloodsucking parasites as a metaphor for maternal burnout, resentment, and the appetite to reclaim yourself. Wickedly funny and genuinely unsettling.

If you liked this

Hereditary2018

A family holiday becomes a descent into dread and bodily horror. Like Bloodsuckers, it uses intimate family dynamics as the pressure cooker and refuses to soften its vision of what families do to each other.

But Bleak, slow-paced, and genuinely distressing. The ending divides people sharply, and it demands patience before it delivers scares.

The Substance2024

Body transformation as both liberation and nightmare. A woman reclaims agency through physical metamorphosis, with the same darkly comic tone and willingness to be grotesque that makes Bloodsuckers work.

But Extremely graphic and body-horror-heavy. If you find body modification imagery uncomfortable, this will test that. Nearly three hours long.

Raw2017

A young woman's appetite—literal and metaphorical—awakens and spirals. Like Bloodsuckers, it's a horror film about desire and transformation that's funny and revolting in equal measure, with a female perspective at its core.

But Cannibalism and very graphic violence. The tone whiplashes between comedy and disgust, which some find jarring rather than effective.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Bloodsuckers

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Wailing2016

Both use contagion (mosquito bites, mysterious sickness) as the mechanism for exploring family rupture and the selfish impulses we're taught to suppress.

South Korean mystery-horror where a mother's protective instinct and a mysterious illness infect a small community. Like Bloodsuckers, it uses infection as metaphor for how desire and fear spread through families and societies, with the same ambiguity about who is victim and who is predator.

But Nearly three hours, deliberately obscure plotting, and the ending refuses to resolve. Korean cinema's pace and structure feel foreign to Western audiences accustomed to clearer narratives.

The Babadook2014

A mother's exhaustion and resentment become monstrous and literal. Australian gothic that finds genuine scares in maternal burnout and uses horror to say things about motherhood that drama cannot.

But Quite slow and metaphorical. If you're looking for jump scares or plot momentum, you'll find this frustratingly oblique.

Tusk2014

A body becomes something other than itself through outside force. Absurdist, grotesque, and genuinely funny in its commitment to an insane premise. Shares Bloodsuckers' willingness to be disgusting and comedic at once.

But Deeply stupid in a way that exhausts some viewers. The humour depends on accepting the premise unironically, which not everyone can do.

You're Next2013

A woman reclaims power in a violent situation through cunning and survival instinct. Genre film with real intelligence and dark humour, featuring a protagonist who refuses victimhood.

But Home-invasion horror that some find too brutal. The tonal shifts between comedy and violence won't work for everyone.

The Lighthouse2019

Two men in isolation, desires clashing, sanity unraveling. A pressurized space where need and resentment boil over. Beautifully strange and frequently very funny about male stubbornness and appetite.

But Deliberately artificial black-and-white 1.19:1 format that some find pretentious. Slow, weird, and the accent work is heavy.

Titane2021

A body becomes a site of transformation and liberation through violation. Body horror that's oddly tender, funny, and completely committed to its surreal logic. French filmmaking that refuses easy answers.

But Extreme body horror and sexual violence. The first act is provocative in ways many will find unwatchable, and the story never quite settles into genre comfort.

A Dark Song2016

Isolation and emotional need drive the narrative. Slow-burn supernatural film about grief and want, with a central female character pursuing something others think is madness.

But Very meditative and sparse. Minimal plot, heavy on mood and dialogue. Feels like watching someone process trauma in real time, which some find boring.

We Need to Talk About Kevin2011

Both treat motherhood as a site of horror rather than sentiment, and both show a woman's darker impulses not as aberration but as natural response to impossible situations.

A mother's relationship with her son becomes a nightmare of resentment, regret, and the capacity for harm that lives in families. Fragmented, disturbing, and devastatingly honest about maternal ambivalence in a way most films refuse to be.

But Unbearably bleak and accusatory toward the mother. The structure is confusing, and it offers no comfort or redemption. Many find it punitive rather than illuminating.

Saint Maud2020

Both feature a woman whose transformation comes from within, fed by circumstances and isolation, and both treat that transformation as simultaneously horrifying and darkly comic.

A caregiver's obsession and need gradually warp into something monstrous. British horror that's visually gorgeous and psychologically precise about desire, faith, and the hunger for meaning. Dark and funny in ways you won't expect.

But Slow-burn character study that takes its time. The ending is ambiguous and potentially very depressing. Some viewers find it precious or overstuffed with metaphor.