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Nosferatu Movie Review

Nosferatu is a 2024 gothic horror film directed by Robert Eggers and starring Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgard. It’s another masterpiece from Eggers.

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“You are my affliction“

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This movie acts as both a remake of the 1922 German silent classic and an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel itself. Thus, it contains some of the best elements from both stories in what is a very potent mix. This is to date Eggers’ most mainstream movie, the one that had the most success at the box office, but this happened because of the IP and not because of anything that he did for the film itself, which is just as legitimately artistic and refined as his previous efforts.

‘Dracula’ is an often adapted tale, so there is not really a lot that you can do with this material to make it more original. So, the fact that Eggers did just that speaks volumes of his talent and caliber as not just a director, but as a writer as well. This is by far the most faithful adaptation of the source material as it contains all of the major plot points while also including some of its best themes, imagery and ideas. I was taken aback by how genuinely respectful the filmmaker was of the original novel, which brought a smile to my face as a big fan of that literary work.

He didn’t just faithfully adapt it, but he also elevated the story to a more modern narrative that will be more palatable to contemporary audiences. Now, there was always a metaphor of repressed sexuality in the Victorian era present in the book itself, but what Eggers did is make this not just the metaphor, but a directly explored theme and a focal point of the story overall.

This choice worked wonders for the movie, instantly separating it from numerous previous adaptations and establishing it as its own beast and arguably the greatest adaptation yet. The ending was so powerful because it was so unexpected. I definitely had a hunch watching the movie that he would do something unique with the final scene, but he still surprised me for that conclusion was so elegant and so deep that it functioned as a dark fairy tale of sorts. It both humanized Count Orlok and it felt fresh.

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Speaking of Orlok, this is not your usual take on Dracula. Gone is the sophisticated gentleman persona in favor of this very animalistic creature of the night that played up our most carnal fears as humans. His design is incredible – his clothes and moustache made him look like a Cossack while his accent was reminiscent of the Balkan region. Bill Skarsgard literally escaped into this role and I loved how savage and ugly Orlok looked and behaved. The fact that we got to see him fully nude was also a brilliant choice. Yes, the movie may not have those modern jump scares, but it has a more basic and universal fear explored – the fear of the ugly and the animalistic preying on humans. Those feeding scenes were effectively grim and grotesque.

Nicholas Hoult was perfectly cast as Thomas Hutter and he was so good as the helpless victim in the first act. He had such a great 2024 with this and ‘Juror No. 2’. Aaron Taylor-Johnson wasn’t fully convincing, but his character was quite memorable and his faith very brutal. Emma Corrin was underutilized, but Willem Dafoe was delightfully over-the-top in the third act with some of his pleasingly colorful dialogue.

But the standout of the movie is Lily Rose-Depp, who was unexpectedly strong in the role of Ellen Hutter. She proved to be the villain’s undoing, which was a fresh feminist spin on this old tale. Depp was excellent and the character was memorably unhinged. This huge focus on her over many other characters was definitely a big change from the source material, but it mostly worked for the better.

If there is one thing that I can fault Nosferatu for it has to be the pacing. It’s a very long movie that clocks at a bit over two hours and you can feel its length in that very slow second half. Some of the scenes there were so sluggish that they grinded the movie to a half. But thankfully the ending was superb and worth the wait while the first half was genuinely thrilling and entertaining.

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This Nosferatu is also a technical feat across the board. The directing from Eggers is incredibly strong while the production design, costumes, make-up effects and cinematography are all simply outstanding. Everything looked vividly recreated, making for an extremely historically accurate adaptation. I especially appreciated how the castle looked so real and authentic and how the costumes were also accurate to the period depicted. The cinematography is exceptional too with some of the imagery being just staggeringly beautiful, especially the snowy scenes. The score is another standout as it’s elegantly composed, creepy and timeless.