Robert Eggers returns to horror by reanimating the classic German film and the Dracula narrative, leaving a magnificent, nuanced, and genuinely frightening story of dread and desire.
In Baltic Germany around 1838, young Ellen’s nights are dominated by a vague, monstrous figure, summoning unnameable feelings within that her mind and society cannot manage. As her estate-agent husband engages a mysterious Transylvanian count on business, the danger gets larger and more threatening – but Ellen finds it isn’t easy to turn from. With a masterful cinematic knack for evoking the bloody past and earth-shaking psychological turmoil, Eggers (The Lighthouse, The Northman) proves ideal for a fresh take on the all-too-classic tale, combining sensuous period detail, thoughtful character work, and an atmospheric, well-earnt sense of otherworldly threat. Lily-Rose Depp stands out as the societally repressed, emotionally conflicted heroine
