Nosferatu - Review

Rating: 10/10

NOSFERATU is an entrancing film that is dreadfully atmospheric and filled with vivid imagery. The story is hauntingly beautiful, the characters are engaging to follow, the pacing is very efficient and the world-building and lore is fascinating.

This remake of F. W. Murnau's 1922 silent film (which in itself is an unauthorized remake of Bram Stroker's 1897 novel Dracula) was incredible to watch and Director Robert Eggers did this story justice and made vampires horrifying again. The story puts the viewer in a trance-like state from start to finish and the pacing is excellent for a 2 hour and 12 minute runtime.

Regarding the rich characters, the actors/actresses performances is what made them stand out so much. Bill Skarsgard transforms into Count Orlok and he's terrifying but also very fascinating to follow and see what he does next. The entire ensemble cast of Nicholas Hoult, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Simon McBurney and Ralph Ineson are all great and bring life to these characters but Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter steals the show and she gave the best performance of her career. In my opinion, she got snubbed from an Oscar Nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

This world that the film so easily transports us into is haunting but breathtakingly beautiful at the same time, in large part due to the evocative cinematography of Jarin Blaschke, production design of Craig Lathrop and costume design of Linda Muir. Music composer Robin Carolan's score is bone-chilling and it also plays a huge part in the immersion of this film.

This is Robert Eggers 4th film and I think it's the best of his filmography so far. I'm not a fan of the horror genre and the scenes where Ellen is possessed gave me nightmares, but there's just something magical about this film that keeps bringing me back to rewatch it. The fact that I've watch this 5 times within a 3-month span shows how I love this film and how truly entrancing it is to watch.

NOSFERATU is a vividly immersive and dreadfully beautiful fever dream of a film.

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Director: Robert Eggers

Writer: Robert Eggers

Runtime: 2h 12m

Release Date: December 2024

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