_edited.png)
Scorch Score: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
As we venture into the first full week of 2025, it seems fitting to explore one of 2024's most compelling cinematic achievements: Robert Eggers' Nosferatu. This haunting reimagining of the legendary 1922 silent film stands as a testament to the enduring power of vampire mythology. While the original emerged as an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Eggers' interpretation delves deep into the rich folklore of Transylvanian vampires and historical figures like Vlad the Impaler.
This film has emerged as a critical success, defying the typical reception of horror films. With an IMDb score of 7.8/10 and a striking 87/100 on Rotten Tomatoes, this atmospheric take on F.W. Murnau's 1922 vampire classic demonstrates that genre constraints do not need to limit a film's artistic achievement. Indeed, while the film's gruesome horror imagery and supernatural elements unfortunately deter some viewers from fully appreciating its artistic merit, those who look closer will find a masterwork of cinematic craft.
At its core, Eggers crafts an intimate portrait of the terrifying Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) and his consuming obsession with a human woman, Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp). The narrative unfolds with elegant simplicity: a young woman's desperate plea for companionship inadvertently summons Nosferatu (Count Orlok), initiating an unsettling courtship twisted with genuine love and powerful manipulation. When Ellen eventually escapes and finds solace in marriage to Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult), Orlok's discovery of this perceived betrayal sets a deadly countdown in motion. He grants Ellen three days to return to him willingly or watch as he systematically destroys everyone she holds dear.
By the second day, Ellen confronts the inevitable truth of her situation. Her only path forward lies in deception – sacrificing herself to keep Orlok from his coffin until dawn breaks, ensuring his destruction by the morning sun. While her husband Thomas clings to hope that there is another way to destroy Orlok, Ellen understands a deeper truth: from the moment she first called out to Orlok in her youth, she became eternally his – a fate merely delayed but impossible to escape.
According to an interview with ScreenRant, "Eggers explains that Ellen is 'the maiden' to Nosferatu's 'death'", which is a theme seen often in art history. Specifically, in the Renaissance period, there are many depictions of young maidens being offered up as sacrificial lambs to the insatiable appetite of death. In the film, Orlok embodies this appetite literally, with Skarsgard's bone-chilling vocal performance conveying a creature driven purely by his eternal thirst.
Ellen then emerges as Orlok's perfect counterpoint, as Eggers articulates, "When you see Lily-Rose looking like a doll and Bill looking like a skull with a mustache, it's a powerful contrast" (Yang, 2024). This visual dichotomy draws directly from Renaissance art traditions. Hoakley (2020) notes that "'Death and the Maiden' is considerably more common [in art] but concerns a peculiar association...of death with the erotic" – a theme that permeates throughout Nosferatu (2024). The final scene where Orlok's emaciated skeleton lies atop Ellen's delicate flesh could quite literally be a traditional oil painting from Europe in the 1700s.
Lily-Rose Depp herself acknowledges the complex dynamics at play in the film, explaining that the connection between Ellen and Orlok possesses "real sensuality and real desire" (Yang, 2024), even as Ellen recoils from the monster's presence. This duality speaks to death's paradoxical nature – its promise of peaceful finality juxtaposed against its violent inevitability.
Eggers subverts traditional expectations by presenting Ellen not as the customary pure virgin, but as a complicated figure marked by her own darkness. Orlok recognizes their kindred nature, suggesting that their connection transcends mere predator and prey. Even in his monstrous form, he finds understanding in her gaze. Somehow, even a disgusting beast like Orlok feels seen by this young woman. This is why Orlok is drawn to her and becomes increasingly obsessed with claiming her as his own.
This theme of Death embracing and capturing young women is not limited to one culture either. Father Time and the Grim Reaper are the most commonly seen visuals of Death interacting with seemingly innocent women in art, but going even farther back to Ancient Greece, Persephone is the antithesis of Hades – the goddess of life and fertility wed to the God of Death himself. The motif of death's fascination with youth and beauty persists. Death, in its eternal existence, covets what it can never possess – the vitality of youth – much as Orlok obsesses over Ellen's essence.
Even Ellen's appearance as a pale white European woman speaks to the common practice in 'Death and the Maiden' motifs that historically color-coded genders. In ancient Egyptian paintings, "men traditionally have yellow or pale brown skin, but women are as white as porcelain," (Hoakley, 2020) which was intended to show the purity of the maiden as clean and perfect, void of scars, tattoos, abrasions, dirt, or grime on the skin that would translate as an 'unclean' or 'impure' soul.
Over time, the skin tone of the maiden remained the same, but the image of death itself changed around 1850: "Death was no longer that grim pre-Christian reaper, but the Angel of Death with feathered wings" (Hoakley, 2020). Eggers deliberately maintains Renaissance-era imagery in Nosferatu (2024) however, presenting Orlok as a decaying corpse. Even the character's mustache itself serves as a historical marker, nodding to the typical appearance of noble figures like Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476) in Eastern European history.
To dismiss Nosferatu (2024) as merely another unsettling horror film would be to overlook its profound resonance as a fundamentally human story. Though its plot may appear deceptively simple, beneath the surface lies a rich tapestry of universal themes that speak to the deepest corners of human experience.
The relationship between Ellen and Orlok serves as a mirror, reflecting back to us myriad interpretations of the human condition. We witness the devastating cycle of consumption, where obsession becomes its own undoing. Through their unnatural courtship, we explore the crushing weight of loneliness – how its desperate gravity can pull us toward those who would harm us. The film doesn't shy away from examining toxic relationships with unflinching clarity, showing how parasitic bonds can hold us in their grip even as they slowly destroy us. The film also touches the raw nerve of loving someone who has wounded us, and the bittersweet agony of letting them go. We see how broken souls recognize and cling to each other in their shared darkness, reaching for connection despite the cost. The narrative weaves together themes of impossible desire, noble sacrifice, the blinding power of lust, and the double-edged sword of loyalty with masterful precision.
And still, the thematic depths run deeper...
With the persistent onslaught of Hollywood remakes, Nosferatu (2024) stands as a testament to the true power of reinvention. Eggers and his exceptional cast have crafted something truly special – a grotesque yet mesmerizing love story that transcends its horror roots. While it may not be a conventional romance, the film's exploration of Orlok's obsession with his chosen lover, and the ultimate price of Ellen's sacrifice, creates an unforgettable narrative web. As Hemenway (2024) astutely observes, "Nosferatu's ending shows that Ellen is the true hero of this story" – a radical departure from traditional portrayals of the maiden figure confronting death and evil. This fresh perspective adds yet another layer to the film's revolutionary approach.
As a storyteller, I find myself in awe of how this seemingly simple film contains such multitudes. Nosferatu (2024) isn't just the finest horror film of the decade – it's a masterwork that will haunt the genre for years to come. Its ability to be simultaneously terrifying and beautiful, repulsive and mesmerizing, speaks to the craftsmanship in every frame. Every creative choice feels deliberate, every uncomfortable moment purposeful. The collective achievement of Robert Eggers, Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgard, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and the entire creative team has resulted in something extraordinary – a horror film that transcends its genre to become a meditation on the human heart in all its darkness and light.
For those eager to see this film, Nosferatu (2024) continues its theatrical run at local cinemas. Following its theatrical release, audiences can expect to find it streaming on Peacock very soon (Bianchi, 2024).
References
Bianchi, S. (2024, December 25). A streaming guide to Nosferatu. ELLE. https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a63250243/how-to-watch-nosferatu-streaming/
Hemenway, M. (2024, December 29). Nosferatu’s Final Scene Explained & What Robert Eggers Has Said About It. ScreenRant. https://screenrant.com/nosferatu-final-scene-director-robert-eggers-comments-explainer/#:~:text=In%20the%20end%2C%20Nosferatu%27s%20ending%20shows%20that%20Ellen,makes%20the%20ending%20of%20Nosferatu%20that%20much%20better.
Hoakley. (2020, January 4). Paintings for our time: Death and the Maiden. The Eclectic Light Company. https://eclecticlight.co/2020/01/05/paintings-for-our-time-death-and-the-maiden/
Yang, K. (2024, December 26). Nosferatu Ending: Ellen & Count Orlok’s Shocking Fate Explained By Director & Stars. ScreenRant. https://screenrant.com/nosferatu-2024-movie-ending-ellen-count-orlok-explained-eggers-depp-skarsgard/
