Nosferatu

Nosferatu Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, and Bill Skarsgård.

Director: Robert Eggers

What’s Good: The film is striking in every single way, so it is hard to pinpoint just one.

What’s Bad: The start can be a bit slow, but that might be the only thing, and it falls into nitpicking territory.

Loo Break: Every scene is extremely valuable to get the entire context of the piece, so no breaks on this one.

Watch or Not?: This is a must-watch for every film lover, and even more so if you are simultaneously into dark and moody films that are beautiful and powerful.

Language: English (with subtitles).

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 133 Minutes

User Rating:

F. W. Murnau’s film is one of the most influential in cinema history. Its influence goes beyond the horror genre and touches many filmmakers. The “unauthorized adaptation” of Dracula proved that different filmmakers could make different films from the same story or premise. This time, Robert Eggers does the same, with a remake that becomes its own thing thanks to some fundamental changes and highlighting themes only suggested in the original.

Nosferatu Movie Review: Script Analysis

Robert Eggers has become, in a very short time, one of the most interesting directors working today, a director fascinated with the past and historical accuracy, transforming each of his films into a sort of time travel capsule that allows us to see people from the past living these stories but with the most gorgeous cinematography and the most exquisite production design. Nosferatu follows this philosophy, creating a unique depiction of Germany in 1838, one that will become tattooed in our minds thanks to the excellent writing and the overall filmmaking quality.

The original Nosferatu was born as an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, for which Murnau didn’t have the rights. Eggers highlights this pivotal difference between both art pieces in his version.

The film is incredibly atmospheric, and the use of language in the dialogues is just fantastic, but going beyond and thanks to some powerful performances, the film goes into the territory of depicting a story about identity, agency, and self-worth; themes that you wouldn’t associate with a vampire film, but that take the spotlight has Eggers centers his story into one where desire, love, and accountability mix together to create one bloody mess, one that depicts the fundamental contradictions of life quite beautifully.

The story moves quickly, and concepts, ideas, and characters are introduced just when the time is right. The language and dialogue are tight so that everything feels believable, even when dealing with a creature such as a noble vampire searching for his desire. Only the character of Knock feels quite useless but still manages to consider some of the themes that the film tries to work and show to modern audiences.

Nosferatu Movie Review: Star Performance

Eggers’ script is fundamental to creating a world that feels believable, but only by having amazing actors to play the characters does the script come to life in the way it does. Lily-Rose Depp kills it in the film, playing Ellen, our protagonist and the most important character in the story.

The rest of the cast is equally excellent. Even if he does something very familiar for him here, Hoult continues to impress, while Dafoe is welcome in each film he works on. Bill Skarsgård impresses once again, disappearing entirely into the role of Count Orlok, our vampire, a true vampire noble from another time, with movements, behavior, and a voice that feels otherworldly in the best possible way. Skarsgård indeed shows that he is a fantastic actor when used well. The same goes for Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who shines in a secondary role.