Twilight
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Cam Gigandet, Taylor Lautner
Rated PG-13
Release date: November 21, 2008

Catherine Hardwicke‘s Twilight is a love letter as well as a wink and a nod to all the diehard fans of the novel by Stephenie Meyer on which it is based. There’s no doubt that Meyer’s book sparked a pop culture phenomenon the likes of Harry Potter, but where the Potter film adaptations were big-budget huge effects fantasy efforts that are fun for the whole family, Hardwicke’s movie is really a small-time indie drama with a touch of supernatural aimed straight at the heart of young girls.

The film opens with Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) leaving her home in sunny Phoenix to go live with her father in the dreary town of Forks, Washington. Bella’s voiceover explains that she’s relocating so that her mom can go on the road with her new husband, a minor league baseball player.

Once in Forks, the shy Bella does make some friends, but also seems to have earned the disdain of Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a handsome yet mysterious boy who only socializes with his equally mysterious foster siblings. Bella finds herself attracted to her unnaturally pale classmate, even though he is openly repelled by her. She can’t understand what his issue is with her, until one day he saves her from a car accident and reveals his true nature as a vampire, and that what Bella thought was disgust was actually lust — for her and her blood.