Eleanor Webb (Saoirse Ronan) has been sixteen for 200 years and she is tired of constantly hiding. She obsessively writes her story, as much of it as she knows, again and again only to destroy the pages when she's finished. Her mother, Clara (Gemma Arterton), is adamant about the need for secrecy. She has never told Eleanor that they are hunted as abominations. A chance encounter with a boy (Caleb Landry Jones) sees Eleanor's story turned in as a work of creative writing, prompting a health and welfare check by a concerned professor (Tom Hollander). More deaths means more chances the vampire brotherhood will find them.
In the wrong hands, this could have been a disaster. It's a story about an oppressive patriarchy, motherhood, coming-of-age, sex, and death. Clara was forced into prostitution and gave Eleanor to an orphanage/convent to be raised, leading to a huge disparity in their values. They both have to kill to survive, but their codes are different. Eleanor only takes the old and the sick, preferring to think of it as easing their passing. Clara attacks the powerful and the abusive. Eleanor chafes at her restrictions. Clara sees it as protecting her young. Both think the other needs to grow up.
Arterton and Ronan are perfectly cast, Arterton especially. The production design is lush even through its grime. It's a great vampire movie that is unfortunately not streaming anywhere. I got it on disc from Netflix but it's completely worth buying a copy.
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