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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

• Theaters everywhere
• PG-13, 122 minutes

This whole “Twilight” phenomenon was under my radar until my younger sister mentioned that she was going to a midnight showing. Traditionally—in Mississippi theaters, at least—midnight showings are reserved for the big money-making film series: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Spiderman. So, what’s so special about this one? The film is an adaptation of the first in a series of contemporary vampire romance novels by Stephanie Meyers. Heavy on “forbidden love,” “Twilight” follows shy Bella Snow and the vampire she falls for, Edward Cullen. While the Cullen family is not your typical gang of vampires—they don’t drink human blood—their lives are challenging and romantic.

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.