Nosferatu - A Gothic Horror that should Satisfy Fans of Such Genre

I have read about this movie on various news and social media which made me interested in watching. It took a while for the film to be released in Indonesian cinemas, but finally it was available for showing mid of the week. I saw this yesterday without the company of my wife as it was a horror genre that she is not a really fan of. All right, I'll get more to it now.

Brief Story Line

Set in 1838, Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult -  Juror #2, The Garfield Movie etc) and his newly married wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp - Voyagers, The Idol TV series etc) were living in Wisburg, Germany. As tasked by the firm he worked for, Thomas decided to go to Transylvania and get the signature of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård - John Wick: Chapter 4, It etc) for a manor deed. Despite Ellen's plea for Thomas to stay with her, Thomas still went ahead and leave Ellen staying at the home of his best friend Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson - Kraven the Hunter, The Wall etc) and his family.

Through so much difficulty, Thomas finally met with Orlok and managed to get his signature. However, he would find that the meeting would endanger his and especially Ellen's life. Meanwhile Ellen also starting to experience sleepwalking and seizures which Professor von Franz (Willem Dafoe - Motherless Brooklyn, Aquaman etc) concluded was affected by under the spell of vampire called Nosferatu.

So what would happen to Thomas and Ellen? And how would the story conclude?

End of Brief Story Line

Well apparently the movie was not that far from my expectation. I already felt from the trailer that it was a dark, slow burn story which gave a strong old (classic) movie vibe. When I saw this, it reminded me of the feeling of seeing old black and white films about vampire. This film was a remake of the 1922 movie titled Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. Further reading revealed that the original was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula novel with alterations on the characters' names but similar story, which would explain my familiarity. But when I saw the closing credit to this movie, it did mention the novel.

Anyway, the film started with eerie scene that gave a surprising jump scare. Subsequently though, it moved at undertandably slow pace to provide dark sense for audience. It took a while for me to enjoy it better as personally it was a little too much and I was getting a little bored. Things got way more interesting after Thomas' meet with Orlok and the more Ellen's problems increasing. But the best part for me was definitely the dramatic finale and powerful ending. 

There were some strong positives that I noticed in the film, such as the cinematography and the costume & make up department. The appearance of Orlok was fantastically done and truly convincing. I also like the strong performance by Lily-Rose Depp as she managed to pull off showing multiple expressions one time after another (that part where she had deep conversation with Thomas about her dark history was just brilliant). Nicholas Hoult and Willem Dafoe were also pretty good. Aside from those names I mentioned above, there were also other support cast like Emma Corrin (Deadpool & Wolverine, The Crown TV series etc) as Friedrich's wife Anna, Ralph Ineson ( To Catch a Killer, The Green Knight etc) as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers who was treating Ellen's condition and Simon McBurney (Carnival Row TV series, The Duchess etc) as Thomas' boss Herr Knock.

The film was written and directed by Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse etc) and was praised by critics. It received multiple nominations for various awards including Critics' Choice and Oscar. Financially it did not disappoint either as its Box Office performance was already more than 200% of its budget. It looks like Egger's future should be bright and he could make similar films in the future. I said above that the movie was a bit late playing in Indonesia. It was already released during Christmas time 2024 in the US and various other countries. Not too sure the reason for such delay, perhaps because the censorhip body was considering whether or not to release here (due to various scenes).

Overall, I could understand the movie's appeal for people looking for gothic horror that focused on the story and characters development. The period setting would also interest audience who like to see such time in a film. On personal basis though, this movie was not exactly my favorite with its strong artsy feel. The duration of more than 2 hours felt a bit too long for me as well. Btw, there was no mid or post end credit scene here If you are interested to find out. So if you are looking for such attributes in a movie, I am sure you would be enjoying this. But if your preference is different kind of horror, then you might not like this one. The choice is yours.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars