Poised to become one of the year’s “under the radar” gems, I Love Paris is the brainchild of star Aminata Thiboult and director Nicky Murphy (the pair co-wrote the screenplay together).
Technically, I Love Paris is the stage name of the film’s protagonist, Paris (Thiboult). The fame-seeking rapper settled on the name in part in order to capitalize on the (free) merch made popular by tourists wandering around the city of love.
What’s delightful about Paris is that this – and pretty much every other half-cocked idea she comes up with – is confessed, without shame, in direct address to the camera, regardless of how good, bad, or unhinged it may make her look.
Paris’ willingness to be candid and unfiltered, giving 100% access to the lone male documentarian following her around as she aspires to greatness, says a lot about the woman at the heart of the film. She’s cheeky and savvy; more than a bit of a grifter; and an opportunist who is equally likely to screw over a stranger or a friend if she thinks it will help her. And she’ll do it with a shit-eating grin and a cute little smile, because she knows she can get away with it.
As played by real-life actress/musician Thiboult, Paris is equal parts charming, frustrating, and temperamental. In short, she’s the perfect figure to center a horror mockumentary around: an aspiring musician with questionable talent (at least early on), eager for shortcuts to fame, whose plans are temporarily derailed when she inadvertently winds up getting turned into a vampire.
The film looks like a true documentary, complete with direct address confessionals, walk and talks along infamous streets, and invasive editing (Murphy loves a zoom). Narratively, however, it is broken into two distinct acts that capture Paris’ journey towards stardom.
The first act takes place over a single weekend. It introduces Paris, her somewhat supportive manager Joe (Noé Hermelin), and her aspirations to win over Paul (Antoine Dumortier), a bigwig who books talent for all kinds of festivals that Paris quips she would “kill” to be a part of.
And kill she will.
After being told to boost her social media presence by doing more TikToks, Paris inadvertently attracts the attention of a lonely vampire, Lutèce, or Lu (Leonor Oberson). After being half-transformed (Vampires are visually exemplified by a pale blue eye), Lu gives Paris a crash course on the realities of vampirism: burgers and human food are out; drugs don’t work anymore; vampires don’t have any special powers or strength, and Paris must kill in order to complete the transformation, or she’ll die.
This and other exposition is doled out slowly, in conversations on streets, subways, and dark alleys as Lu and Paris bicker comedically. Even as the film unfolds, the way vampirism is used is complicated and tweaked. The film is only tangentially interested in exploring horror tropes; more often than not, it is content to use vampirism as a tool to interrogate Paris’ aspirations, as well as for comedic purposes.
The world opens up in the back half as the film counts down to a major gig: the Emerging Artists Festival. As Lu’s backstory is fleshed out, Paris is matched with an up and coming young pop star, Mimi (Louiza Aura), who begins hooking up with Lu, which threatens her and Paris’ secret.
The looming deadline for the show, captured in interstitial titles counting down the weeks, then hours to showtime, generates plenty of narrative urgency and comedic pratfalls. It’s a clever and successful storytelling device, upping Paris’ worst instincts while simultaneously raising the stakes.
At its heart, I Love Paris is a character study of its narcissistic protagonist, with plenty of great comedy beats and an exceptional lead performance that leaps off the screen. Thiboult’s charisma is unparalleled, and it’s impossible not to fall in love with Paris even when she’s making terrible choices or being completely irrational. The performance is that good.
It all culminates with an unexpectedly tender and tonally perfect (anti)climax that reinforces how cleverly Thiboult and Murphy understand their material, followed by a great comedy zinger to close out the film.
I Love Paris is an unexpected gem and a film that absolutely needs to be sought out. Pair this with Uncle Peckerhead and enjoy an evening of comedically disastrous, but lovable anti-heroes trying to make it in the music industry.
I Love Paris screened at the 2026 Toronto After Dark Film Festival.
