Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Nosferatu (2024)

Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) dreams of a man, a man who wishes to possess her. A man she wishes to be possessed by. Is he real? She doesn’t know, but she is all too aware that she is a newly married wife with a husband she loves, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) Thomas is a rising star with his law firm, and eager to please. When he learns that he is to deal with a new client, he is pleased, until he finds that the man is infirm and cannot travel, so he must travel to the man – to his home in the distant Carpathian Mountains.

Of course he does not refuse, although Ellen pleads with him not to go. On his arrival, the local folk are less than welcoming, especially one he has revealed his destination – Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard)’s castle. The trip to the castle is an eerie one, and his reception by Count Orlok just as odd. Especially his obsession with Ellen, whom he spotted in a locket – and promptly took, refusing to return. Things go from bad to worse when he finds himself a prisoner in Orlok’s castle, and he discovers the true nature of the client he has come so far to serve.

Meanwhile, at home, an anxious Ellen confides her fears to her best friend, Anna (Emma Corrin), who is married, with children, to Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and pregnant with another child. Ellen, who has always been supernaturally sensitive, continues to have “visions” of her dream lover, suffering from mysterious fits which alarm her friend. They send for an eminent professor, Albin Eberhart von Franz (Willem Dafoe), who arrives, as well as Dr Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson). They are at a loss to explain her fits, and the suggestion is made to send her to an asylum for the insane to safeguard the others. And Ellen is concerned that Thomas has not returned from his business trip – and he is long overdue.

Nosferatu is a reboot of the original 1922 film, which was itself a ripoff of Dracula, for which the makers were sued. It is very similar to that, and to the 1979 version, which I previously reviewed. Cinematically, this film is breathtaking, each shot carefully planned and framed. The performances are extra-ordinary, particularly that of Lily-Rose Depp who is, of course, the daughter of Johnny Depp. The story does indeed resonate with what came before, but in its own way. It was very well done, but at the same time I found myself somewhat dissatisfied in ways I can’t completely explain. The dynamic between Ellen and Orlok drew me in at the beginning, but I feel as if it could have used some more depth, especially considering the ending (which I won’t reveal, of course)

I did like it much better than the 1979 Klaus Kinski version, but I felt the storytelling was perhaps uneven. I’m sure a lot of people will disagree. I’m not denying it’s a very good film. But perhaps not as satisfying as I would have wanted. I’ll give this film 4 Stars.