Fantasmagoría 2024 - Review of "The Day is Long and Dark" by Julio Hernández Cordón

Of Vampires and Parenthood

Youth is a central theme in the filmography of director Julio Hernández Cordón. Through it, he has crafted various portraits that, from his perspective, depict marginality ("Gasolina," 2008), lack of opportunities ("Hasta el sol tiene manchas," 2012), exploration of identity, sexuality, and survival through art ("Marimbas del Infierno," 2010), early love ("Te prometo Anarquía"), and violence ("Cómprame un revólver," 2018).

With The Day is Long and Dark (2024), Hernández Cordón returns to another of his interests—relationships between parents and children, and cultural resistance—within a gothic vampire story in crisis.

Vera is a depressed teenager who doesn’t want to be a vampire. Each day it becomes harder for her to control her urge to drink blood, and she fears harming the people she loves, like her mother and boyfriend. She doesn’t want to live forever; she longs to feel the sun and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Possessing the vampire gene inherited from her father, she wishes to die. It is up to Cruz, her father, to bring out his best parental instincts to help her tame her desires and provide the blood she needs to rid her of suicidal thoughts. But how far can they go to suppress their true nature?

Nothing in Hernández Cordón's work follows conventional codes. This vampire movie flows at a different pace and with a different approach, because beneath it lies a melancholic and reflective story about fatherhood. Vera’s journey is complex, and the relationship between father and daughter is marked by highs and lows, uncomfortable questions, guilt, and reproaches. The vampires in this story, paradoxically, turn to their most human side to express their fears, uncertainties, and vulnerability.

In The Day is Long and Dark, the narrative is about imperfect beings—imperfect children and imperfect parents—people who make unintentional mistakes while trying to do their best to survive. It speaks of parents who, regardless of the circumstances, always seek ways to protect and save their children. Despite its skeptical tone and solitary atmosphere, the film has brightness and warmth, conveyed not only through spontaneous displays of affection and empathy but also through its self-referential nods to cinema itself, as Cruz is a director presenting his new vampire movie at festivals and alternative spaces. These bright moments also appear in beautifully integrated interlude-like scenes.

The vampires in this film wander the city, almost on the margins of human life, which appears only when they need to quench their thirst for blood. The city is one of tall buildings and empty streets. This act of wandering is not done by flying but by walking, skateboarding, or cycling, and those familiar with Hernández Cordón’s films will know how masterfully he captures on-screen the gratifying sense of freedom and floating in such sequences. Wings aren’t needed.

The filmmaker mentioned in an international interview that his story subtly aims to address neurodivergence, a condition he himself has. In this regard, the film seeks to promote acceptance, mutual respect, and an appreciation for different ways of thinking and being, as seen through the perspectives of not only its two protagonists but also Cruz’s mother and girlfriend. Among the layers The Day is Long and Dark offers is a message about balance, with Cruz emerging as one of the most humanistic vampires cinema from these parts has produced.

It’s a pity that, due to Julio Hernández Cordón’s personal issues, which became public, this particular feature has been unfairly affected.

Film Details:

Director: Julio Hernández Cordón
Screenplay: Julio Hernández Cordón
Duration: 77 minutes
Genre: Horror, Drama
Producers: Julio Hernández Cordón, Alina Rojas, Diana Bustamante
Cast: Luis Alberti, Carla Nieto, Pablo Guisa, Isabel Jiménez, Simón Ruiz, Mila Mijangos Martínez, Dolores Pérez, Eli Acosta
Cinematography: Alexandra Bas
Music: Alberto Torres
Editing: Eduardo Palenque
Countries: Mexico, Colombia
Year: 2024

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