NosferatuChristopher Rost9.9· January 3, 2025FollowLily-Rose Depp I will get you that Oscar. Absolutely floored by this. The second the film ended I bought tickets for the next screening thirty minutes later. Feeling a bit of a disconnect in how I interpreted the film versus what I've seen online, people facetiously calling this "horny" or "freaky" feels reductive and a bit insulting in the face of what, to me at least, is a story about sexual violence and the systems that foster it. Eggers redefines the conventions of the Dracula story by not seeping the count in his usual erotic romanticism but by making him a sexual predator who curses his victims with irreparable trauma that manifests as bouts of depression and mania. Ellen's yearning for Orlok feels like the rationalization grooming victims are often prone to in attempts to justify the abuse suffered. This way, Orlok becomes not only the manifestation of repressed Victorian-era sexual desire that the vampire has historically represented but also the causes of it. The paranormal shorthand for the child molestation of Ellen isn't the only cause though, Count Orlok also stands as the embodiment of the misogynistic hegemony of the film's Victorian setting. Ellen's cries for help and mental breakdowns by way of vampiric possession are met with indifference by society, the men around her disregard her as either insane or impure, and therefore, her female friends view her as a threat, which only drives Ellen further into Orlok's torment. With this, the film poses patriarchal oppression, exemplified in Eggers' worldbuilding and personified in Orlok, parallel to sexual repression as designed to make women internally accept sexual violence and even desire it, materializing in Ellen's longing for her vampiric abuser. This is how Orlok can be both the form of Ellen's repressed lusts and the evils that tyrannize them. He creates this cycle where he's the only release from the torture he creates, there is an implication that Orlok really can give Ellen the equal understanding and respect other men can't, which is why there's still a palpable romance here, just one deeply tainted in toxicity. The count is a mix of love, abuse, understanding, manipulation, etc; he is the rapist, the patriarchy that empowers him, the desire he entraps, and the key that unlocks it all at the same time. Ellen is his prisoner, his martyr, the love of his life, and his killer at the same time as well. Nothing about this story is simple, and nothing is black and white, this moral complexity and ambiguity is exactly what the gothic genre is all about. There are so many layers and layers here, so much left to unpack, and so much I'm sure I don't understand yet, I don't think I've even scratched the surface. This is a movie I'll be thinking about for a good long while, but it's safe to say for now that this is Eggers' masterpiece, I'd still put it under The Lighthouse out of personal preference, but this is a truly staggering piece of work.CommentsSign in to react and join the conversation.Sign inGet the app
