Film Review: NOSFERATU (2024): Filmmaker Robert Eggers Tackles a Legendary Story in a Movie with Plenty of Bite
Nosferatu Review
Nosferatu (2024) Film Review, a movie directed by Robert Eggers, written by Henrik Galeen, Bram Stoker and Robert Eggers and starring Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill SkarsgÄrd, Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney, Stacy Thunes and Paul A Maynard.
Master filmmaker Robert Eggers brings to life a spooky old-fashioned story that horror movie audiences will be able to sink their teeth into with his new film, Nosferatu. The cast is the movie’s biggest success but, then again, from a technical standpoint, this film is very polished and beautifully crafted as well. This new picture is commandeered by several of its stars, Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill SkarsgĂ„rd and, to a slightly lesser extent, Willem Dafoe but the entire cast is like a movie-goer’s dream come true.
Any fan of the original Nosferatu or 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula will get a sinking feeling while watching the new film that they’ve seen this material before. However, thanks to SkarsgĂ„rd’s fresh take on Count Orlok, the movie spins the material in such a way that audiences will be waiting for the “money shots” in Nosferatu to appear on-screen and when they do, the cinematography captures all the creepiness of this tale in its full glory.
Eggers, the director, doesn’t spare the viewer any blood but opens his film in a cautious way to build suspense. We meet the two main characters, lovebirds Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) and Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp). Thomas, a real estate person by trade, must travel to the castle of Count Orlok to finalize a business deal. While Ellen has intriguing visions of an interesting nature, Thomas goes against his better judgment in the name of money to try to get the deal with Count Orlok (better known as Dracula to those who know his origin story). The genius in the casting of Hoult is in the fact that he played Dracula’s assistant, Renfield, in the spoof of the same name that starred Nicolas Cage.
Lily-Rose Depp plays Ellen with vigor and determination despite her character’s creepy visions that could soon reappear in the real world. She seems to have a connection to Count Orlok but what does it signify and is Ellen doomed to suffer or is there a way for her to escape a dire fate? As Thomas finds himself bitten, things tend to look a bit less than optimistic that Thomas and Ellen will make it out from under the wrath of Count Orlok but watching the film will provoke keen interest in the way the characters make choices that help define their fates. Emma Corrin as the religious confidante, Anna Harding, may get lost in the shuffle a bit as Lily-Rose Depp’s Ellen takes center stage and runs away with the movie with a commanding leading performance.
SkarsgĂ„rd is no slouch either. He is the very essence of the word “freaky” and Eggers doesn’t sugarcoat Orlok in any way, shape or form. This character is the quintessential movie monster and to the filmmaker’s credit, Orlok is treated as an entity that is not to be taken lightly. This vicious character means business and doesn’t play when it comes to getting what he wants which could well be the very life of Ellen, herself. Rats run rampant throughout the early part of the movie, just to remind audiences that this plot may not be going to end well for those characters involved in the film’s main story line. The rats may as well symbolize impending doom having free reign over the main characters’ futures.
Simon McBurney, as Knock, the peculiar boss of Thomas, gets some scenes to chew into. You may think that Thomas and Ellen have a love for one another that cannot be conquered by the actions of another individual. But, Orlok has other things in mind than preserving the pureness of their love for one another. This movie does not go lightly on the weirdness and pulls out all the stops at every corner with frightening intensity permeating every frame of the movie and then some.
There is plenty of passion in the performance by Depp that manifests itself throughout the movie and will make viewers follow this character through the whole film. Nicholas Hoult has had quite the year and this performance is a solid one following his commanding lead in the fabulous Juror #2. Willem Dafoe all but steals the show right out from underneath the rest of the cast in a small, but substantial turn, as Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz. If anyone knows creepy like the back of his hand, it’s Dafoe and he triumphs here in a supporting performance that will please any and all of his fans even though he may be one of the more normal people in this film.
Eggers is a filmmaker unafraid to take risks. He makes some scenes talky in the beginning to test the patience of viewers who are eagerly awaiting what he’s ready to dish out to the viewer. Count Orlok may be a variation of Dracula to some but he’s a bit more complex than your everyday Dracula. Ellen proves to be a formidable attraction to the Count and the scenes with Depp and the always reliable SkarsgĂ„rd are tremendous. SkarsgĂ„rd literally leaps into his part, voicing the character menacingly and holding his own to any previous iterations of Dracula that have come about over time.
Nosferatu is lavishly made. It’s flawed a bit by some of its talky early scenes, though. However, anyone who’s come to see Orlok and Ellen eventually get their game on is in the right place. You have to earn the brilliant conclusion of this film by suffering a bit through some of the early slumps. But, like a good roller coaster, when you reach the peak, there’s plenty of rewards in Eggers’ most handsomely made production yet.
Rating: 8/10
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