Nosferatu This is Robert Eggers’ fourth feature film, and it’s about a different period in history than before. We’ve seen him take on witches, Vikings, and trapped housekeepers in colonial America, and now he’s faced with one of history’s greatest horror stories: the myth of the vampire, adapted from FW Murnau’s 1922 silent film of the same name The film, which has been told over and over again in Hollywood history, itself was inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula Source material – Eggers was happy to draw inspiration from it too.
The film shows that Eggers truly mastered any period he dabbled in, creating a gothic tale of obsession, lust, and desire that blends the occult with the perception of vampires and how they should be perceived. This is a riveting piece of mythology, anchored by a stunning physical performance from Lily-Rose-Depp, who creates a truly breakout role as a young girl who is drawn to darkness and becomes the center of it, becoming an inhuman vampire. object of desire. There’s a terrifying air of mystery and realism at every turn, with Eggers sacrificing bravado for restraint and being able to create something more in line with the vampires portrayed by Murnau and Stoker than their more modern Hollywood incarnations , which is better for them than it is – Orlok feels scary, frightening and truly threatening, thanks in large part to the amount of detail put into the production and the atmosphere of fear that characterizes his first encounters.
The world-building isn’t unique to Orlok and Dracula, but it explores the customs of the time, Germany, the era, the setting language, and it feels like a wonderful addition to the Dracula canon. It blends the text with metaphors of temptation, deception and desperate doom, and shows how a person might fall under his spell. Ellen Hutter, the newlywed and dark-skinned; Emily Dickinson-esque tortured protagonist, inadvertently summons an ancient evil that has been with her her whole life. The dreams Ellen experiences in Orlok are frightening and nightmarish – she knows the danger comes long before it arrives in the form of an unsuspecting real estate agent – Nicholas Hoult’s Thomas , he is able to bring respite to evil, at least temporarily. Her friends Anna (Emma Corrin) and her businessman husband Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) notice that her mood improves whenever Thomas is around. But it wasn’t long before Thomas was sent to make a bet with Orlok. It can be said that this client has “one foot in the grave” in Translivania, his eccentricity and age are unprecedented. When Thomas arrived, Orlok, who could only be seen after dark, slept in a coffin and imprisoned him.
The cinematography is incredible and the use of darkness creates an immediate sense of fear and doom. The fear of the snow-capped mountains of Orlok Castle and the villagers at the base of the castle is immediately felt. Eggers is able to identify different interpretations of vampire lore and weave them into dreamlike, haunting sequences – Hoult portrays a man increasingly frightened, but determined and determined to survive at all costs. Get through it – no matter what. He is united by his devotion to his wife, who in turn is united by her devotion to Thomas – a pair of doomed lovers at the heart of the story. Nosferatu Anchoring this tragedy; you know there is no way for both sides to emerge victorious. A spell of fear and doom unravels every character here, no one is safe, and there are some devastating, howling scenes that linger long in the memory.
One of those weak links could be Aaron Taylor-Johnson. He’s sluggish; he’s also the only actor who feels like a 21st century Brit in a period piece from the 1800s, rather than an actor playing a different character. Lily-Rose-Depp’s performance in Kraven the Hunter wasn’t terrible, it was terrible, but it’s especially bad here – perhaps out of frustration at having to compete with the bigger names around her, Lily-Rose-Depp ’s performance rivals that of the greats in Kraven the Hunter. Holt is excellent as always, and Willem Dafoe looks happy to be commanding screen time with the awe of a professor who knows more about the occult and supernatural than any other actor; a window into the mysteries.
balance between Nosferatu It’s a fun adaptation of Dracula that feels like a callback to the old-fashioned way vampires are made. Gothic imagery can be seen everywhere, and Eggers’ restraint makes Nosferatu Really shine. It ranks right up there with some of the best work of his career – a raw and powerful masterpiece that will be a highlight of early 2025, for British audiences at least. Please have more vampires like this, neither attractive nor sexy, but very scary. Of course, who else could play him but Bill Skarsgård, who would be able to bring a completely different perspective to the role than his terrifying role as the Joker in recent films. it Movie?
