To obtain a much-desired promotion, real estate worker Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) agrees to venture to Transylvania to have the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) sign papers allowing him to purchase a mansion in a small village. While there, he begins having a series of hellish nightmares. What he doesn’t realize is that, as a child, his new wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) formed a psychic connection with the vampiric Orlok, who has been obsessed with her ever since. His reason for wanting the mansion appears to be directly related to a desire to take her from Hutter. Ellen begins acting erratically as Orlok gets closer, leading her physician to consult with professor Von Franz (Willem Dafoe), an expert in the occult.
The primary vibe Eggers goes for in Nosferatu is dread. It’s made clear that Orlok is coming and things will get very, very bad for the Hutters once he arrives. That dread is conveyed in ingenious visual ways, including an eerie shot in which the shadow of Orlok’s hand casts itself over the village to suggest his invasion. Another effective sequence involves thousands of rats flooding the streets. Actually, there are several scenes featuring rats, and they have a squirmy, repulsive quality that sets you on edge. If you don’t have musophobia going in, you just might find yourself developing a case of it while watching the film.
Nosferatu’s production design is nothing short of tremendous. Sets, costumes, and lighting choices combine to plunge us into this world. It’s so fully realized that the story’s inherent sense of terror is heightened as a result. Jarin Blaschke’s cinematography captures the dark menace of German expressionist cinema but also cranks it up a couple of notches, ensuring the audience is uneasy the entire time.
Eggers has an even more intense vision for the main character than F.W. Murnau did in his 1922 version of the story. Orlok is still tall and pointy, except that now he’s also got rotting skin to make his appearance extra gruesome. Skarsgård - who knows a thing or two about playing imposing villains, having also portrayed Pennywise in IT - embodies Orlok to a frightening degree. I didn’t even realize it was him until his name appeared in the end credits. His raspy voice and subtly threatening gestures provide constant chills.
Lily-Rose Depp is an interesting choice to play Ellen. The more Orlok takes over the character, the more hysterical she becomes. Depp is unafraid to give a heightened performance. Some might deem it overwrought, although it works in suggesting the impact Ellen’s vampiric suitor has on her. Hoult, meanwhile, grounds the story with his turn as the timid Hutter, and Dafoe adds a pinch of macabre humor as Von Franz.
Instead of relying on jump scares, Nosferatu goes in a whole different direction. The movie envelops you in a dark ambiance, telling a story that continually unnerves with sinister implications and horrifying events. It plays like Robert Eggers somehow injected pure evil right into the film’s core. Watching Nosferatu is an appropriately distressing experience because it fills you with unrelenting anxiety. Without a doubt, this is one of the most exquisite horror films of the 21st century so far.
out of four
Nosferatu is rated R for bloody violent content, graphic nudity, and some sexual content. The running time is 2 hours and 13 minutes.
© 2024 Mike McGranaghan