"Nosferatu" is Nos-Forgettable
If you've seen one vampire movie with strong sexual undertones and highly problematic relations, you've seen 'em all.
Confession: With what little theater time I generally have, I had no plans to see the gothic horror Nosferatu [Trailer], but it seemed like a good compromise between my husband’s film tastes and mine. Truth be told, I had a hankering to see the new erotic drama Babygirl in the adjacent theater or Anora, the Pretty Woman rags-to-riches film about a sex worker, but I landed with this sex film. The current trend of films exploring sexual power dynamics (with The Substance being a prime example) being what it is, if I were to map out a constellation of connections between Babygirl, Anora, and Nosferatu, a prominent theme would emerge: the struggle for female agency [and sanity] in the face of restrictive societal norms and its inevitable carnal expression.
Nosferatu was originally a silent vampire classic from 1922 back when films didn’t have audible dialogue. F.W. Murnau's classic is based on Bram Stoker's Dracula and is about a Transylvanian vampire named Count Orlok who can only be sated by his one true love. In the modern update, director Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse, The Witch) has given the classic vampire story (Mise-en-scene: Castle, remote village) a Tim Burton twist in his direction of star, Lily Rose-Depp, nepo baby of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. Robert Eggers is a horror drama director and, as such, gravitates to scary stories and uses black-and-white to dramatic effect, but it’s his incongruous choices with Depp that are the most puzzling and alluring. The latter, more to the actress’s credit, I suspect based on the evidence of the rest of the film.
Even so, in this telling, Depp is reduced to the role of Tim Burton's manic pixie goth horror girl, never able to fully realize her power in 1838 Germany, nor be anything but a chained up, restrained infantilized “crazy girl-woman” with unbridled beauty and sensuality who must pay for her sins, even if she’s guilty of none. The backstory we’re made to understand is that Helen (Depp) was left traumatized as a girl and called out for help. Her melancholy and depression awakened the beast, and her pleas were answered in the form of a presence (Count Orlok) who supposedly loved her and made her feel safe but also basically raped her and groomed her. All of this is pretty ambiguous but also concurrently an accurate representation of what happened. As an adult, the Count is once again awakened, or stirred, by Helen’s betrothal to Thomas, the love of her life. The Count makes himself known by taking over Helen’s body and causing her epileptic episodes interspersed with periodic fits of moaning and gyrations. She’s disturbingly pleasured and perplexed.
The men in this film, save the evil, but strangely sexy, bestial Count Orlok (we’ll unpack my attraction at a later point), who breathes heavily and walks around with long acrylic nails, are mostly all duds, even Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) and his uptight friend, Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Also, technically the Count is not a man. Hoult’s performance as Thomas is noteworthy, especially when he tries to escape Count Orlok’s castle by jumping a gazillion feet from a ledge, but still manages to survive, albeit with a limp. You have to take some major leaps of faith in cinematic continuity and realism in this film. But for all intents and purposes, Hoult delivers here and gives his all.
Helen’s one savior/ally can be found in Willem Dafoe’s character, Albin Eberhart, an open-minded professor who dabbles in the mystical and is the only one to believe Helen and take her seriously that, indeed, there’s an apocalyptic demon headed for their shores named Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). He’s the only person who sees Helen as more than damaged goods or a sexual plaything, but as a capable person in her own right and the only person who can rid the world of Count Orlok, who also unleashes a rat plague on Helen’s village, so there’s that gruesomeness to contend with.
Side Note: Willem Dafoe is magic here. When is he not? He was 2023’s standout in Poor Things and he’s this film’s salvation too. Mad scientist meets empathetic, cerebral father-like figure, is the best way to describe him.
The Problem of Nosferatu
The film’s main problem is that it is not scary or entertaining. It is also not particularly moving or daring to say anything different about the vampire story. In FX’s Interview with a Vampire, I found a more compelling and nuanced interpretation and examination of society and its villainization of the vampire that was, frankly, a heck of a lot more titillating, illuminating, and haunting than this. Bill Skarsgård, no stranger to scary characters, and who played the clown in the most recent film adaptation of Stephen King’s It was far more interesting in his long-since forgotten first role - that of an Upir vampire, in the pulp TV series, Hemlock Grove, with Famke Janssen - than he is here, concealed by a distracting affect and swagger, get-ups and what amounts to grunting along to the tune of a CPAP machine. I needed subtitles for at least 3/4 of the things he said. If your idea of a good film is measured solely in its cinematic/visual storytelling, then this will be for you. I think it makes you pompous, but I can sort of respect it. If you’re looking for a departure from what’s been done before with blood-sucking non-sex, then you can find better alternatives.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO CAST YOUR VOTE
Cast your vote for the top 2024 TV and film performances here
The big winners’ reveal will be on January 4th.
Twin Films - MUSIC Themed Fun
For January’s Film Chat, we’ll discuss “Twin Films,” which refer to films with the same or similar plots released at different studios at different times.
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (2022) on 1/12 and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla (2023) on 1/19.
correction: The original post cited that the film was screened at 2023’s TIFF. It was 2024.
Honestly, from an analytical perspective, Nicolas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Lily-Rose Depp are like a Voltron of lightweight acting. Every time Willem Dafoe or my man Orlok were offscreen, I struggled to keep my eyes open.
Fromtheyardtothearthouse.substack.com
Great review Beth! I'm in agreement here!