Nosferatu Nails Its Creepy Objective
Nosferatu is good, OK? This film is dark, atmospheric and has vibes in spades. It’s often gross, sometimes sexual (but I would argue very rarely, if ever sexy) and definitely cultivates a profound feeling of unease throughout the entire runtime. We open on Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) praying for a friend, an angel or, well, anything to come save her from her loneliness. It seems that heaven is fresh out of angels and instead she awakens Nosferatu. After a fairly graphic tumble that may or may not be real Ellen is left gasping and alone.
The story is roughly what you’d expect if you have any familiarity with Nosferatu’s previous iterations or the Dracula story. This film slides seamlessly between black and white and bleak color, almost all diegetically lit (lit with the fireplaces, candles, sunlight etc. that you see on screen). Ninety five percent of the time I think it works beautifully, however if you have astigmatism I might advise wearing your glasses over your contacts. The look of the movie is uniformly slightly sickly, except for the cats. There are several and they provide several moments of much needed normalcy. The mastery of world and tone is really what makes this film sparkle.
Nicholas Hoult is very charming as the loving, somewhat dopey husband. Lily-Rose Depp contorts her body and soul in ways I am still thinking about days later. Count Orlok looks gross. This is a much more graphic take on the character and also the first to dress him in Transylvanian garb. Bill Skarsgärd as Orlok lowers his voice dramatically and really sinks into the role. The couple’s dear friends (played by Emma Corin and Aaron Taylor-Johnson) are good foils, texture and occasional exposition dispensers. Every actor in the project is really dialed in. Willem DaFoe takes no prisoners in every scene he’s a part of.
While I think the movie is wonderful, it wasn’t perfect. I don’t think Robert Eggers hates women or anything, but I couldn’t help but notice that the women of the film are not given any agency to speak of, they are mostly the catalyst for male action. One might argue that this is period accurate and should be excused but I would like to remind those people vampires aren’t real (as far as we know) and believing women capable of making choices isn’t that fantastical. While this wasn’t a total dealbreaker for me it did feel a bit like a pebble in my shoe once I noticed. The resolution of the film saves this somewhat but not entirely.
Overall, Nosferatu is a loving extension of the vampire legends you grew up with. It’s dark, disgusting, moody and densely mythologized creating a full, lived in feeling world. The sets are beautiful, the color when utilized, is attention grabbing and the performances really solidify this movie as a new vampire classic. Eggers has said this film has been years in the making, something he and his team has revisited over and over until they felt they had it just right and it showed in every frame.
If you have any strong sensitivities to sexual harassment/sexual assault or animal cruelty I might advise sitting this one out.
I give Nosferatu (Focus Features; R; 2 hrs 13 mins) a 4.5 out of 5.
