The Vampire Lestat (2026) Review

The Vampire Lestat (2026) Review

Hot on the heels of its BBC premiere, Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat is set to arrive on Blu-ray, DVD and digital 2 November complete with more than five hours of special features, courtesy of Acorn Media International. With a fourth outing – Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned – on its way, now is the perfect time to sink your teeth into this devilishly delicious series.

The latest adaptation from Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles book series sees Sam Reid (Belle, The Newsreader) take centre stage in an electrifying performance as the fearsome vampire Lestat De Lioncourt. The infamous befanged one attempts to set the record straight, with his own take on the events recounted by Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson – Game of Thrones, Doctor Who) in the first two seasons of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.

Reid and Anderson are joined once again by a stellar cast, with the latest series welcoming the return of Assad Zaman (Hotel Portofino), Eric Bogosian (Uncut Gems, Succession) and Delainey Hayles (Holby City, Carrie). We’re also introduced to new characters played by Jennifer Ehle (Pride and Prejudice, Zero Dark Thirty) and Sheila Atim (The Woman King, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness).

The latest instalment picks up in the wake of an unexplained global catastrophe before taking us back to 2025 where Daniel Molloy’s (Bogosian) infamous novel ‘Interview with the Vampire’ has become a bestseller. Enraged by his portrayal, Lestat (Reid) – now living in Montreal – sets out to tell his side of the story in a way only he can… by channelling his fury into a glam rock band and going on tour.

Each episode takes us through different American cities as the bloodthirsty rockstar attempts to complete his deeply personal new album, that explores his two-and-a-half centuries of trauma, reflects on his ties to the very first vampire: Queen Akasha (Atim) and an incredibly complex relationship with his mother Gabriella (Ehle).

Haunted by the muses of his wild and rebellious past, the vampiric virtuoso’s newfound career forces him to confront the darkest aspects of his own immortality. As his star power rises, so does his influence over vampires and humans alike, causing an unnatural surge in the bloodsucking population with disastrous consequences for all of mankind.

I am a huge fan of Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles, and the two novels that kick-started the series, Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat, absolutely rocked my world when I discovered them during my formative years. I have also been impressed by AMC’s television adaptations, as well as Neil Jordan’s 1994 big-screen adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. The less said about 2002’s Queen of the Damned, however, the better. So, when it was announced that the third season would finally bring Lestat’s rock-star persona to the screen, I was intrigued. I thought I knew what to expect.

In some respects, the series delivers exactly what I had hoped for. The adaptation successfully captures Lestat’s disdain for the version of events presented in Daniel Molloy’s book, also titled Interview with the Vampire, while Sam Reid throws himself into the rock-star incarnation of the character with the kind of magnetic energy that has made his portrayal so compelling from the outset. The musical sequences are suitably flamboyant, and the songs themselves are surprisingly effective, complementing Reid’s electric stage presence.

Unfortunately, beyond the music and Reid’s performance, I found this season considerably less satisfying than the two that preceded it. It simply lacked the bite — pun entirely intended — that made the first two seasons so compelling. Perhaps I am in the minority here, as much of the online response has been overwhelmingly positive, with some viewers even declaring this their favourite season yet. For me, however, something was missing.

Sam Reid remains magnetic as Lestat, but the supporting characters increasingly feel sidelined by the character’s seemingly endless grievances over how he has been portrayed in Molloy’s book. Louis, Molloy and Armand all have their moments, but much of their potential is swallowed up by Lestat’s increasingly repetitive recollections, complaints and flashbacks to his younger years.

Indeed, if I had to hear Molloy ask Lestat about his childhood stutter one more time, I may well have screamed at the screen. What initially feels like an intriguing exploration of Lestat’s past eventually becomes something of a narrative cul-de-sac, repeatedly circling back over ground that had already been covered.

There was enormous potential here to really embrace the glamour, excess and theatricality of Lestat the rock star, and whenever the season does so, it is a considerable amount of fun. Yet those moments are frequently buried beneath lengthy stretches of dialogue that revisit, dissect and ultimately regurgitate the supposed truth behind the events established during the first two seasons.

And therein lies my biggest disappointment. The first two seasons had an intoxicating quality that kept me completely invested in the characters and their increasingly tangled relationships. This time around, however, that sense of fun gradually dissipated as I found myself wading through Lestat’s seemingly interminable whining and wallowing.

There is plenty to admire here, particularly in Reid’s performance and the visual and musical spectacle surrounding Lestat’s transformation into a rock icon. For a devoted Anne Rice fan, seeing this particular incarnation of Lestat finally brought to life should have been irresistible.

Sadly, for me, it never quite achieved the same intoxicating high as the seasons that came before it. Perhaps the problem is simply that I wanted more rock ’n’ roll and less reflection, more decadence and less dialogue, and considerably less Lestat explaining why everyone else got Lestat wrong.

For me, Season Three ultimately feels like a missed opportunity: beautifully performed and undeniably stylish but lacking the intoxicating bite that made the first two seasons so memorable.

SPECIAL FEATURES include:
• The Vampire Lestat Series Preview
• The Vampire Lestat After Dark
• Episode Insiders
• Long Face Karaoke Video
• All Fall Down Lyric Video
• Breaking Down: The Loneliness
• Laying Down the Tracks
• Panel at Comic-Con 2025
• THE VAMPIRE LESTAT: ONE NIGHT ONLY LIVE Highlights