By Muskaan Monique Dhillon
Writer-Director Robert Eggers Nosferatu is a haunting tale of the legendary vampire Count Orlok who harbours an obsession for someone so intense that it creates darkness and chaos in those he touches.
Nosferatu has been a longtime dream for writer/director Eggers, and you can feel the passion in every single frame of the film. The commitment to period accuracy from the detailed costumes, to the period-specific cadences and quirks of the language combined with his love of Count Orlok and cinema all come together to deliver a masterpiece.
Evident throughout the film is the dedication and admiration Eggers has not just to the story of Nosferatu but his love of film. Eggers is able to transcend the genre of horror and brings the classic tale to the big screen with the perfect team allowing the audience to succumb to the world they have created. The production design is breathtaking done by Craig Lathrop, the costume designs are beautifully crafted by Linda Muir, the cinematography done by Jarin Blaschke is hypnotizing and all while being elevated by the film’s haunting score by Robin Carolan. The team Eggers has assembled comes together to make something truly excellent and really shows how filmmaking is a collaborative effort.
Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession and as every night her husband Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) is away, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) has nightmares about the vampire, Count Orlok. Ellen sleepwalks, convulses and moans as if something has come over her. All while the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) stalks Ellen and torments her dreams, bringing untold horror with him.
Depp delivers a star-is-born performance with her incredible portrayal of Ellen in a way we have never seen of this story before. This version of Nosferatu allows the focus to be on Ellen and Depp rises to the occasion of knowing precisely when to show restraint and when to have an extreme intensity. The physicality of Depp’s bewitching performance is remarkable. And to make the moments of possession and sexual awakening believable, Depp in various interviews said she worked closely with movement coach Marie-Gabrielle Rotie, a visual artist with a background in dance. Depp brings a raw, brave and emotional depth into the performance of Ellen and truly gives it her all. And for Depp to not only be able to physically pull off the body contortions that plague Ellen but also continue to be emotionally grounded in the scenes is a mark of a great actress.
As for Skarsgård he has always been a transformative actor but his performance in Nosferatu is something out of this world. Skarsgård truly made Count Orlok his own and worked with opera singer Ásgerður Júníusdottir to achieve the lower voice. The outstanding prosthetics were designed by David White. And in an interview with Fangoria Skarsgård said “It becomes a whole process where you need to familiarize yourself with how your performance is being translated through the prosthetics”. After viewing the film Skarsgård does not let the prosthetics take over, but works with them to create his performance and breathes or more accurately wheezes new life into this version of the iconic vampire.
The film does a great job in the balance of the ensemble where every actor is given a moment to shine. Hoult brings something entirely new to Thomas in this version because he still is the innocent doting husband but his encounters with count Orlok are very different. As Thomas goes under Orlok’s spell there is a sensual and helpless manner to him. Hoult brilliantly is able to communicate so much through his eyes and mannerisms that as a viewer you feel the restraint and pull from Orlok as he falls deeper into helplessness. And Willem Dafoe is wonderful in his role of Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz who gives some sort of relief from the heaviness of the tale. And his connection to Ellen is very honest and pure where he sees Ellen for who she really is and does not judge her for it. Emma Corrin is also lovely in this movie and plays Ellen’s best friend Anna. The friendship and connection between Ellen and Anna was my favourite to see and Corin shows great emotion throughout the film. And Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s performance as the rigid Friedrich is much richer than I expected and gives this character a level of depth. Taylor-Johnson Friedrich is of fearless attitude and is very protective of his family. Depp’s Ellen is not just a victim of a vampire but a victim of circumstance and the nineteenth century society that is upheld by men such as Friedrich. And in a pivotal scene shared between Depp and Taylor-Johnson expertly shows this dynamic.
While watching the film I could not help but to notice the lilacs shown throughout. The movie may be applying the method of floriography (language of flowers), the art of communicating through flowers with specific meanings, a popular method used in the Victorian times. According to LovFlowers “lilacs symbolise renewal and the promise of new beginnings, as they are among the first flowers to bloom in spring. This makes them a wonderful representation of rebirth and growth. In Victorian England, lilacs were also a symbol of love and remembrance, often given to loved ones as a sign of devotion”.
In Nosferatu purple lilacs were used throughout the film from the beginning when Thomas runs home in the pouring rain with his hat covering a huge bouquet of cut lilacs for his new bride Ellen to near the end of the film where Ellen in those final scenes had the lilacs in her hair accompanied by the film’s music score titled “Lilacs”. Here lilacs I think offer a rich layer of symbolism to amplify the themes of love, death and transformation. There’s a scene where Ellen cuts the end of her hair and puts it into a locket for Thomas on his travels and this locket later is grabbed by Count Orlok and he smells the hair in it mentioning the scent of lilacs. Purple lilacs often symbolize the first emotions of love, youth, innocence, and rebirth. Purple lilacs have been long associated with both the beauty of life and the sorrow of death.
Lilacs are the perfect choice of representing Ellen acting as a visual and emotional tool to represent Thomas and Ellen’s young love and the looming fear of death brought on by Orlok. The lilacs reflect Ellen’s purity, vulnerability and eventual sacrifice at the end of the film and being robbed of her innocent youth showing the beauty and tragic nature of life.
Lilac’s can also be associated with resilience and hidden strength which fit with Ellen’s journey in the film. Ellen may seem like a passive character in the face of Orlok’s terror, but she holds much inner strength that becomes clear as the story progresses. And her actions is what leads to the downfall of the vampire, revealing that she was far more courageous and determined than initially received. The lilac flowers perfectly contrast the evil force of the vampire. In the scene where Thomas gives Ellen the flowers, Ellen sobs “Why did you kill these beautiful flowers”. The lilacs used further deepens the emotional stakes, highlighting the fragility of life and love in the face of supernatural horror.
Lastly I want to mention the incredibly haunting and eerie score done by Robin Carolan. And in a film like Nosferatu, where much of the horror is atmospheric and psychological, music plays a key role in amplifying the mood. Carolan’s score works together with the film’s visual and narrative choices and evokes a sense of dread, tension and unease complementing the horror elements of the film. Carolan’s score acts as a dream where you feel as though you are floating one minute and a total nightmare the next. Carolan has crafted a beautifully haunting collection of music that fits the atmosphere that Eggers is trying to capture and it rarely allows you time to breathe. I would say there’s an ambiguity in Nosferatu due to the repeating motifs synching with the story’s themes of fate and obsession and combining both horror sounds with romantic, even beautiful sounds. Those softer moments act as a break and a relief from the constant dread. But don’t get too comfortable because the music often pulls you back into the darkness, the space where Count Orlok operates. The score titled “Ellen’s Dream” is a great example of this, the track starts off with a cool breeze-like feel before going into this haunting melody. I’m in awe of the score and I did not expect it to be as impactful as it is for me.
Nosferatu 2024 is a masterpiece and is the best piece of horror that we have seen in the 2020’s. Robert Eggers’ attention to detail and ability to carefully craft each element to ensure that he does this classic story justice while also adding his own touch to it. The final shot of Nosferatu is the most striking, beautiful moment on screen that will stay with many for years to come. It’s impossible to not succumb to the darkness with Eggers at the wheel. This film is breathtaking, engaging, and has incredible performances from Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård. This movie will definitely give you something to sink your teeth into. A must watch for sure.
Muskaan Monique Dhillon is the Entertainment Reporter for DESIBUZZCanada. She is currently studying Communications at Simon Fraser University.
