Pierre Lognay

A shy young price seeks solace in overeating rather than attempt courtship. Until he begins to suffer from severe stomach pains. A peculiar doctor advises him to drink the waters of a magical spring every day. But it is a thousand leagues from the palace. The prince must go there alone, on foot, otherwise the water will lose its powers to cure him.

Vincent Lannoo’s ‘mockumentary’ shows us a community of vampires in Belgium. The two ‘parents’ of the family are George and Bertha, who have two teenage children – or rather, they raise two former humans who they turned into vampires. Son Samson is a bit of a jack the lad: enjoying the sexual freedom of vampire life, with all the vigour of an irresponsible young adult regardless of consequences (even incest is not frowned upon in their world, where the word ‘wife’ is often synonymous with ‘mother’ or ‘sister’). Daughter Grace yearns for humanity in a different way: applying fake tan to get rid of her vampiric pallor, dressing in pink clothes, wishing she could feel emotion and even having a human boyfriend.

Standing on the edge of a rooftop, Gregory ponders the precariousness of life. He is 20 and feels like a stranger to himself. He wonders how he can live without dreams or desires. One day, he sees Liv, another college sophomore, and falls secretly and utterly in love with her. When he finally dares to declare his love, he finds himself up against a wall. Liv does not know him. Twenty-year-old Liv loses her virginity to Ilia, an older Russian army deserter. She experiences her first love and treasures every minute. But all too soon, Ilia's past creeps back into his life and unravels their union. One day, he leaves her without a word. She will have to live with the same intolerable loneliness that she unwittingly inflicted on Gregory.