When I saw the trailers for Nosferatu from writer/director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman), I was very apprehensive about viewing the film. I say apprehensive because after I viewed his film The Witch, the feeling I left the theater with is one that I did not have to go through again. It was so powerful and left me feeling as if I had gone through an experience much like the characters. I did not elaborate on those feelings with others before. I knew this filmmaker has a great talent for storytelling – one where the audience can feel it all. Now with Nosferatu, he has created another experience in telling the audience what Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) has lived with most all her life since her youth. Unfortunately, given the circumstances and the time this was happening, few if anyone would believe how disturbing her nightmares really were.
Ellen found love and companionship with her husband Thomas Hutter (Nicolas Hoult, Renfield, The Order). Their love is strong, and he is understanding of her continuous “spells” and nightmares. He comforts her and assures her, but she becomes more anxious when Thomas must take a work trip to close the deal with Count Orlak (Bill Skarsgard) on property for his bosses. His goal to be more successful for the couple’s benefit turns out to be a very challenging one. Thomas is not prepared for the traumatic experience so far from home. The scenes are so well done, much cannot be said without the risk of spoiling the story. There is no doubt about how powerful and determined the characters are.
While Thomas is gone, Ellen’s condition is becoming worse. An acquaintance of an elder in the community knows Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe). His research and knowledge of the occult was not widely accepted, but a consultation was granted by Ellen’s guardian while Thomas was gone. Dafoe’s performance is extraordinary in this role, as he recognized symptoms, but others had a hard time buying into his analysis of what was coming toward them through Ellen. Depp’s performance is mesmerizing and believable as her character undergoes the twisting, shaking and tremors of her body and limbs. These movements during her nightmares were what people didn’t understand, even when the professor tried to explain.
To see Bill Skarsgard in the role of Count Orlak (Nosferatu) is to not recognize him. Or his voice that sounds very creepy, coming from all around the audience in the theater. The makeup, prosthetics and all that Skarsgard undergoes to become this character is amazing and effective at turning people’s stomachs in scenes, especially toward the end of the film when he arrives “in town.”
Nosferatu is a vampire story, through and through, set in a time long ago before communication as we know it. This vampire is a force of pure evil.
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding, Emma Corrin as Anna Harding, Simon McBurney as Knock, Ralph Ineson as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers, Paul Maynard as Dockhand, Stacy Thunes as Head Nurse
Runtime: 2 hours 13 minutes Rated: R and is in theaters December 25, 2024.
Source: Focus Features
###