'NOSFERATU' (2024) Dir. ROBERT EGGERS
Ellen longs for love and submits herself to Count Orlok. Years go by and she marries Thomas, forgetting that she has already committed herself to Nosferatu (vampire). When Thomas is given the opportunity of meeting a client to sell a house; he learns that the client is Count Orlok. He meets the infuriated Count Orlok on his work travel as it was all orchestrated by the Count's servant, Knock, who is also Thomas Hutter's boss.
The Count deceives Thomas into signing a contract that nullifies his marriage to Ellen. Ellen then has 3 days to marry the Count as promised previously. Count Orlok brings a curse, a plague to be exact, upon the town where the Hutters reside. When Ellen declares her love to Thomas instead of the Count, he curses those who are close to her, leading them to their death.
As he is a vampire, the Count only appears at night and can die when exposed to sunlight. Ellen and Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz device a plan to kill him using this weakness. Whilst the professor misleads Thomas to the Count's home, Ellen professes her love to the Count. They marry and Ellen distracts him till sunrise; sucking onto her blood which slowly kills Ellen. When sunlight appears, it ultimately kills the Count. By the time Thomas realises the deception, he runs back home only for it to be too late. Ellen and Nosferatu are dead. Her sacrifice stops the plague from spreading across the town.
Trailer
The first thing I noticed in cinemas was the tone of the film; very dark and moody setting which set the atmosphere for the rest of the film. There were specific light sources used for many shots such as firelight and moonlight. This suite the genres of the film as expected but it was very much explicit throughout. At one point, specifically when Thomas meets the antagonist Count Orlok at the castle, the lights were used in a way to cloud the audience's vision and cast a blur on Count Orlok's appearance. It was as if I was hallucinating. I was intrigued to see Skarsgård's transformation as the villain but the use of firelight in this scene caused further suspense. We hear his voice and the frightened expression on Thomas's face would suggest the uneasiness of the encounter.
My favourite camera shots were the ones where a moonlight lighting technique was used, for example, the shot when Thomas was left in the middle of the forest on his journey to the castle. The contrast of light and dark in the film creates an anxious atmosphere.
There were a lot of close-up shots to highlight characters' expressions; majority of which were used to convey a scary or eerie situation for the characters. Back to the scene in which Thomas meets Count Orlok, the close-up shots highlighted his frightened self. In that moment, he realises the dangers that are forthcoming. This is further implied with the countless talks of "he's coming" from various characters. It is a warning to not only the characters in the story but for the audience as well. Whilst the close-up shots were used in intense and important scenes, I came to notice that a lot of left to right panning shots (and vice-versa) were used during these scenes as well. It attracts the audience to see what the director wants them to see.
A lot of the moonlight shots were carefully placed to cast shadows that told a story. The silhouette of Nosferatu at the beginning of the film is a more modern interpretation of the iconic silhouette of Count Orlok from the original 1922 film. Robert Eggers worked with cinematographer, Jarin Blaschke, on all the iconic shots.
The last shot of the film is worth mentioning; Ellen sacrifices herself and kills Count Orlok with her. This leaves the audience disturbed as the shot alone is very graphical; portraying blood and the remaining bones of both characters. We can assume that it implies the darkness within love. It seems like Ellen has finally "held hands with death" quite literally.
Lastly, it is fair to say that Bill Skarsgård is truly an underrated actor. He has captivated the hearts of many fans when portraying the iconic character, Pennywise in the movie 'It' (2017), however, I have yet to see him win awards and getting the recognition that he deserves. I have watched him in 'Barbarian' (2022) and 'The Crow' (2024) and I am amazed at how versatile he can be in different movies. Though the films have similar themes of horror and thriller, he seems to play each character differently. He is transformative; once in costume, you don't see Bill Skarsgård, you see the character. In this film, I could barely recognise him in the costume and make-up. His voice was completely different too.
The film heavily relies on light sources to tell a story of Nosferatu. Lily-Rose Depp and Nicholas Hoult were convincing in portraying terrified protagonists whilst Bill Skarsgård is unrecognisable as Count Orlok - another villain to add to his acting resume.
My rating: 8/10
