Nosferatu (2024)
4 / 5 | DIRECTOR: ROBERT EGGER
A symphony of horror, love, and pain, Nosferatu is nothing short of a gothic masterpiece. Eggers takes F.W. Murnau’s work of art and exposes it to a new generation of cinephiles, bringing light to one of the most beautiful stories about darkness.
The story about a woman who wishes nothing more than to find a companion. A man who is in love that is being taken away by a monster who desires the same woman. While the town Wisborg pays the price for their love triangle.
Lily-Rose Depp's avant-garde role as Ellen Hutter brings a refreshing taste to Nosferatu. She elevates Ellen's character by creatively portraying her internal pain and suffering. Because unbeknownst to Ellen, she is Count Orlok's obsession and sole desire. Without her, he is willing to destroy everything that brings light to the world.
Count Orlok, played by Bill Skarsgård, plots to trick Ellen's husband, Thomas, into going to his castle far from Wisborg. Motivated by Thomas and Ellen's engagement, he manipulates Thomas's boss, Knock, into his servitude. Finding a way to move closer to the pair, he buys one of the properties in Wisborg.
Knock, now a servant to Count Orlok, sends Thomas to Orlok's Castle to sell a rundown property to him. Confused by the request, Thomas overlooks its strange nature in order to secure a promotion at the firm. As the movie and story progress, we can see the toll that Count Orlok takes on their physical and mental states. He possesses Ellen's body, causing what those around her attribute to episodes due to excess blood in her body, showcasing how poorly women were diagnosed in the early days of medicine.
At Count Orlok's castle, Orlok is sucking the blood out of Thomas during the night. Thomas, eventually exposed to the true, dark nature of the Count, recalls the ritual of the "Gypsies" that he once witnessed during his journey to the castle. He attempts to do the same, only to be cornered and put to rest. As Orlok escapes to Wisborg by boat, the boat's crew becomes the first victims of Orlok's vampiric ways, unleashing a plague that would not end until Ellen willingly surrendered herself to him.
Just as we praise the performance of Lily-Rose Depp, we must praise Bill Skarsgård. A seasoned actor reprising another historical role as Count Orlok (having previously played Stephen King's Pennywise the Clown in the movie "IT"), Skarsgård has established himself as a horror icon, much like his predecessor, Max Schreck. Skarsgård's Count Orlok explicitly traveled in the shadows of the night until his very last breath, just as Schreck's did.
Eventually, Orlok's journey is fulfilled as Ellen lies naked in bed for him to take. Just as his will consumed the lives of Wisborg's townspeople, it consumes his own. Unable to end his bloodsucking as Ellen draws him closer until the cock's last crow, Count Orlok indulges. and as the sun rises, his fate is sealed – death by the very sunlight he evaded his entire life.
While no film is perfect, Robert Eggers' "Nosferatu" does a great job of retelling a classic story. The only criticism is that at times, it felt as though too many characters were being developed throughout the film, such as the Hardings, who were Ellen and Thomas's friends. This led to a somewhat fragmented narrative as the story shifted between various storylines to allow Orlok time to complete his journey. However, the film's cinematography and the performances of its key actors undoubtedly contributed to its cinematic success.
Nosferatu may not be the horror film that makes you tremble or jump, but it effectively exposes the insidious terrors that lurk in the night.
