Nosferatu starts with a haunting image of Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp). The young woman is lost in her thoughts and calls for a guardian angel to protect her. What she does not realize is that she summons pure evil to her. She summons the horror that is Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) AKA Nosferatu to her being and this demon will haunt her life for years to come.
Nosferatu is another telling of Dracula but it feels more urgent than the previous iterations. Robert Eggers‘ use of imagery and sound pulls the audience into the film and makes you feel the emotions of the characters on screen. As you watch the movie you also feel the urgency of Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) as he wants to secure a better life for himself and his wife. He knows the request to go to Count Orlok to get papers signed is unusual, but he does it for his future. Little does he know that this trip will change his life.
Eggers’ brilliant use of light in Count Orlok’s castle captures the sense of dread that surrounds Thomas. Only being able to see glimpses of Count Orlok builds the tension until we finally see his full reveal. Within the castle, we witness how the Count slowly starts gaining control of Thomas’ life and wants to remove him to gain access to his wife, Ellen. As Thomas is losing control, we also see how Count Orlok’s hold on Ellen is causing her to have epileptic episodes which cause fear in the homestead of Friedrich & Anna Harding, (Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Emma Corrin).
Friedrich calls on Dr. Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson) who feels he is underqualified to help her and gets the assistance of Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe). Von Franz is brilliantly insane and Dafoe’s performance feels so outlandish that it fits in perfectly within the context of the movie. Von Franz knows all about Nosferatu and shares his knowledge with the men on how to stop him.
Nosferatu, like most of Eggers’ films, is a slow burn. Eggers is great at building up the tension in his films so that by the time the final act is upon the audience they are fully invested in what happens next. Again, his technique of using minimal lighting puts you in the character’s shoes and creates that sense of danger. The effect of Count Orlok’s presence on the city is shown using amazing shadow techniques. You can hear the screams as the shadow covers the city and it is a chilling image.
Nosferatu is a story from the past told with a unique style that feels ahead of its time. Eggers has a way of creating masterpiece-like images while telling an engaging story. Through the script and imagery, the story slowly unfolds before the viewer until its final climactic moments. Nosferatu is one of Eggers’ best films to date and will be talked about for years to come.
Stunning Imagery
Fantastic use of sound
Slow pace may draw some away from seeing this movie
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