Nosferatu 2025 -Review : A Dreary, Deathly, and Methodical Reimagining

Nosferatu

A Dreary, Deathly, and Methodical Reimagining

★★★½☆

A handsome, visually striking production that feels refreshingly modern yet deathly faithful.

Official Release

December 25, 2024

Rotten Tomatoes

82%

Letterboxd

3.8/5

Running Time

2h 12m

📖 Official Synopsis

Robert Eggers' Nosferatu is a cinematic, gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake. Set in 19th-century Germany, the narrative follows Ellen Hutter as she falls prey to a profound, supernatural connection with Count Orlok, an ancient Transylvanian vampire. As Orlok journeys across Europe to claim her, he unleashes an oppressive wave of death, madness, and plague. Ellen's husband, Thomas, and the occult specialist Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz must race against an oncoming shroud of eternal darkness to break the creature's unholy hold before their world is consumed by a primordial shadow.

👥 Expanded Cast Profile

• Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok / Nosferatu
• Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter
• Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter
• Willem Dafoe as Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz
• Emma Corrin as Anna Harding
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding
• Ralph Ineson as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers

🎬 Expanded Crew Profile

• Director: Robert Eggers
• Screenwriter: Robert Eggers
• Producers: Jeff Robinov, John Graham, Chris Columbus, Eleanor Columbus, Robert Eggers
• Cinematographer: Jarin Blaschke
• Film Editor: Louise Ford
• Composer: Robin Carolan

🏰 Industrial & Production Brief

Distributed globally by Focus Features and Universal Pictures, Nosferatu represents a lifelong passion project for auteur director Robert Eggers. Reinterpreting F.W. Murnau's legendary 1922 silent film masterpiece, the production team executed a massive, historic shoot primarily on location across the Czech Republic, Germany, and Romania. Eggers completely banned the use of standard digital cinematography, reuniting with his long-time cinematographer Jarin Blaschke to shoot the entire film on 35mm color film stock, framing the gothic horror in a tight, historically traditional European aspect ratio. Production designer Craig Lathrop engineered colossal, practical Transylvanian castle interiors and period-accurate Baltic village streets at Prague's Barrandov Studios, allowing the camera crew to rely almost entirely on authentic candlelight, real oil lamps, and harsh natural winter shadows to construct an immersive, museum-grade atmosphere of unforced terror.

The Official Trailer

“ "Eggers drains the film of most of the color palette, creating a dreary, morbid, joyless, deathly affair... it hearkens back to Isabelle Adjani's disturbing performance in Possession." — Ray Manukay

🎬 Vampire Chronicles

• Director: Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Northman)
• Count Orlok: Bill Skarsgård
• Ellen Hutter: Lily-Rose Depp
• Thomas Hutter: Nicholas Hoult
• Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke

Modernized Gender Politics

While the film is faithful to the original material almost to a fault, it distinguishes itself by leaning into the gender politics and sexual dynamics of the period setting. Lily-Rose Depp turns in an unhinged, standout performance, while Bill Skarsgård provides a creepy and disturbing title character. The result is a film that feels vital and urgent, adding a strong, eerie atmosphere to the long canon of Dracula adaptations.

💡 Cinephile Fun Facts

• Skarsgård's Transformation: Bill Skarsgård reportedly spent six hours in the makeup chair daily and worked with an opera singer to lower his voice by an octave.
• Eggers' Obsession: Robert Eggers has called Nosferatu his dream project, having directed a stage play of the story in his senior year of high school.
• The Herzog Link: Eggers utilized several filming locations in the Czech Republic that echoed the atmosphere of Werner Herzog's 1979 version.

✅ Pros

• Breathtakingly eerie atmosphere and morbid production design.
• Powerful, "unhinged" performances from Depp and Skarsgård.
• Refreshing focus on the sexual dynamics and gender politics of the era.

❌ Cons

• Faithful to the original beats almost to a fault.
• Dreary and joyless tone may be too oppressive for some.

The Full Analysis

Nosferatu is the latest adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic tale of Dracula, presented as a handsome and visually striking production that benefits immensely from the artistic vision of director Robert Eggers. Surprisingly, it has been over thirty years since Francis Ford Coppola's definitive version of this story, more than forty years since Werner Herzog's excellent account, and over a century since F.W. Murnau's original silent masterpiece. While Eggers offers an energetic and reasonably fresh take, audiences who are unfamiliar with those previous iterations will likely benefit the most from this latest incarnation.

Eggers remains faithful to the original material almost to a fault, methodically checking off many of the familiar beats of the classic story. What this version offers most over previous renditions is its disturbing visuals and eerie atmosphere. This account serves as the polar opposite of Coppola's lush, colorful, and operatic interpretation. Instead, Eggers drains the film of its color palette, creating a dreary, morbid, and joyless affair. His production design emphasizes the chaos of a period plague, featuring rampant rats, black blood, and decaying bodies strewn across cobblestone streets.

The film also leans effectively into the gender politics and sexual dynamics of the story and its period setting, making the narrative feel refreshingly modern. Nosferatu stands out for its excellent performances, particularly from Nicholas Hoult and a creepy, disturbing Bill Skarsgard as the title character. However, it is an unhinged Lily-Rose Depp who truly commands the screen, delivering a performance that hearkens back to Isabelle Adjani's famously intense work in Possession.

Ultimately, Nosferatu is a strong addition to the canon of Dracula films. Even though it follows a familiar tale, there is enough originality and unique variance to make the film feel vital and urgent. Eggers has crafted a deathly, atmospheric experience that honors the roots of the genre while carving out its own shadow in cinematic history.

🏆 Final Verdict

A strong and visually striking addition to the vampire canon. While the tale is familiar, the unique variances and disturbing visuals make Nosferatu feel like a vital piece of modern horror cinema.

View original review on Letterboxd

Symphony of Shadows: The Adaptations

The Original (1922)

RT Score: 97%

Directed by F.W. Murnau
Starring Max Schreck

The Remake (1979)

RT Score: 93%

Directed by Werner Herzog
Starring Klaus Kinski

The Vision (2024)

RT Score: 95%

Directed by Robert Eggers
Starring Bill Skarsgård

Evolution of the Vampire

While the 1922 original was an unauthorized Dracula adaptation that legally had to change names to "Orlok," the 1979 version returned to the "Dracula" moniker. Eggers' 2024 film returns to "Orlok" out of reverence for the silent era, but shifts the tone from Murnau's high-contrast shadows to a drained, plague-infested realism.

The 2024 version also marks a massive shift in female agency, moving away from Ellen as a passive victim and toward a supernatural, shared dark connection between her and the Count.

Behind the Shadows

• Werner Herzog reportedly exhausted Klaus Kinski before filming to ensure a weary performance.
• The 1922 film was ordered destroyed by a court; only a few survived.

Did You Know?

• The Vatican listed the 1922 original as one of the 45 most important films ever made.
• Bill Skarsgard is reportedly unrecognizable in his 2024 prosthetic makeup.