Nosferatu may be a renowned film for its experimental Expressionism techniques, unsettling settings examining the Occult and its controversial backstory, which led to all copies of the original 1922 silent film by F.W. Murnau being destroyed due to copyright infringement of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. Ensuing restoration efforts resulted in the film being revived and remade to create its enduring legacy for many film enthusiasts. Now, Nosferatu has been freshly adapted for new generations with Robert Eggers’ 2024 interpretation. Eggers has crafted a creepy, cinematographically breath-taking but memorable homage, as expected from this director of The Witch and The Northman. However, what may be unexpected is that at the heart of this tale of vampire lore lies the voice of a woman – Ellen Hutter, captivatingly played by Lily-Rose Depp.
Ellen’s face in a close up is one of the first and most terrifying scenes presented within Nosferatu and sets the tone for this journey into mysterious circumstances, unusual characters and strange activities that create a darkness and terror that pervade the film. Ellen’s image is haunting and her actions are of a haunted nature but introduce several continued themes throughout the film such as somnambulism. Yet, there is a graceful elegance within these nocturnal actions with Ellen opening a window at night with flowing net curtains, and wearing a floaty nightdress, as she seemingly speaks, within a trancelike, hypnotic state which will enchant others. These scenes shot at moonlight with a serene black and white colour grading, seek to recreate that sense of beauty and purity as ongoing themes as Ellen is portrayed as a fair maiden akin to Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast. Yet, under Eggers’ vision those tranquil scenes are infiltrated by the reality of the horror invading and possessing Ellen’s dreams and similarly illustrated by her bodily reactions as she convulses unwittingly as a counter to the aura of romanticism depicted.
Ellen’s journey and her thoughts remain pivotal to all of the scenes within Nosferatu, even when she is not present. There are moments with her voiceover as an ethereal element speaking to the unknown or externalising her thoughts. She is also omnipresent when her husband Thomas Hutter, played by Nicholas Hoult, is sent away on business, to Count Orlok’s premises, as his thoughts remain of returning to her and he holds her locket as a token of their love, which keeps being at home with her at the forefront of his mind. Count Orlok is obsessed with this locket and indeed with Ellen herself.
Eggers’ cleverly crafts the connection between these three characters with cross-cutting edits ensuring that Ellen’s character remains the central beating heart of this triangle as that nucleus between the shadow and the light. Indeed, shadow and light are visual themes within Nosferatu but also symbolic themes for Ellen, who straddles both another realm by night and the earthly world by day. As the levels of possession within her dreams spill in to the daytime world, her fears are dismissed, by those in her inner circle, and she is diagnosed as being ‘melancholic’ and perhaps even hysterical. The manner in which Ellen’s opinions and thoughts are easily dismissed highlight the attitudes towards women within 19th century and post-war Germany. Many ailments, such as the epileptic fits that Ellen succumbs to were discounted or women were committed to asylums and declared to be ‘mad’. Indeed Ellen, in attempting to voice her concerns, is told to ‘know her place’ and is repressed, bound and given sedatives to restrict the feral and unfeminine nature of her convulsions by night. The film implicitly outlines that women were required to be silent and not opinionated and therefore Ellen is disturbingly subjected to ‘othering’ in many ways.
Ellen’s sense of loneliness is also explored, via her own admissions, as she reveals being afraid and wanting companionship whilst she was younger. Such yearnings, however, unwittingly invited a degree of darkness, via the Occult, into her life. Her revelations highlight degrees of self-awareness that are lacking in other characters, in Nosferatu, but even as an adult this sense of being alone manifests itself, once more, as she is effectively abandoned by Thomas when he travels on his work trip. This notion of a woman’s loneliness and desire to feel wanted and needed therefore provides that female gaze – Ellen may be seeking acceptance via many sources including her husband, who proved initially to be another party dismissing her concerns. The theme of isolation is acutely explored within the film as Ellen seeks alternative ways to fill that void which may or may not lead to her ultimate downfall and sacrifice.
However, Ellen’s desires to be loved result in an inward sense of shame being provoked and a belief of being considered to be sinful despite her being possessed and seduced. As such, Nosferatu powerfully demonstrates the blame placed on women during situations in which they may be powerless. As such, the film captures that societal tendency to be overly critical of women and to demonise anyone seemingly different. Eggers trusts Depp completely to convey these sentiments via her facial impressions but equally within an extremely impressive visceral performance which evokes both sympathy and compassion towards Ellen’s plight. Depp has convincingly portrayed both the innocent and the corrupted voice of a woman straddling two worlds, life and death, within a tour de force performance.
Eggers’ has thus crafted a spellbinding adaptation of the classic Nosferatu with authentic cinematography, atmospheric imagery and tone to intoxicate audiences. However, it is his ability to position the longing of a woman at its centre that showcases the film’s continued relevance and gives that voice to those women who may have been persecuted for having psychic abilities or suffering from unknown maladies. Equally, whilst Nosferatu does not have a defined hero – the emphasis on Ellen’s actions and the strength of her character until the bittersweet finale provide that necessary heroic female voice for modern audiences.
Rating – 4 stars
Nosferatu is now in theaters.
Learn more about the film, including how to buy tickets, at the official website.
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