In 1838 Germany, there’s this town called Wisborg where a dude named Thomas Hutter lives with his wife, Ellen. So, Hutter gets sent by his job to a creepy old castle in the Carpathian Mountains. From the moment he gets there, it’s all bad vibes and weird dreams. People in the village pull some bizarre stunts too. Suddenly, this carriage with no driver shows up and takes him straight to Count Orlock’s spooky mansion.

Count Orlock is as strange as they come. He makes Hutter sign some mysterious contract that nobody can read. It’s not until later that Hutter realizes something’s seriously off – like undead level off – but by then it’s game over, and he’s stuck in his room freaking out while the count heads for Wisborg to chase after Ellen, who’s been on his mind since forever.

Now Count Orlock doesn’t just bring himself when he rolls into town; he’s got a nasty plague tagging along. Meanwhile, back home in dogged pursuit of protecting Ellen (of course), Hutter faces impossible odds trying to ditch the place.

But here’s an interesting twist: It’s hinted that Ellen might have unknowingly drawn Count Orlock there with her hidden desires or something deeper lying under society’s uptight rules about wants you’re supposed to ignore or suppress ’cause they’re “bad.” Even when she seems troubled, Dr. Sievers—a character who overall isn’t half-bad—just tells her maybe try tightening up that corset? And girl’s clearly dealing with bigger issues than slightly-off fashion advice here!
Ellen’s life as a mermaid and a saint is pretty fascinating. It’s like she’s this powerful figure who can take down monsters but gets stuck because of what society expects from her. Eggers’ first movie, “The Witch,” kind of touched on the same idea: the whole woman thing being both powerful and dangerous based on how society sees it.

And when Ellen runs into that old vampire mess during puberty, things get wild. She manages to handle it at first, but trouble creeps back when her husband bails on her—though he doesn’t want to, mind you. He’s just wrapped up in society’s expectations too.

The film has this clear message about desire: It’s only dangerous if you keep it hidden away in the dark. But when you face it head-on, it’s way less scary. Willem Dafoe’s character puts this interesting twist on the Van Helsing role from Bram Stoker’s tales, pushing towards a sort of mystical angle. He even tells Ellen she’d have been seen as a wise priestess in another time instead of being stuck at home.

Eggers really nails his reimagining of these themes in a unique way here.

This movie takes a lot of inspiration from Murnau’s original style. You’ve got these cool frontal shots where sometimes the characters stare right into the camera, mixing it up with sudden cuts or really smooth, detailed movements. The director is still teamed up with Jarin Blaschke, the cinematographer, who just nails these moody shadows and almost black-and-white images that feel kind of magical.

The music is wild too! Robin Carolan did the soundtrack, and it’s got that intense vibe like old silent films. Costumes and set design are spot on as well—everything looks truly rich and fit for the story.

Now talking about the actors: Lily-Rose Depp moves in these weirdly mesmerizing ways thanks to some help from a Japanese Butoh dance choreographer. And Bill Skarsgård? Totally transformed—forget Dracula or past Nosferatu versions. He looks more like this eerie corpse with wounds but also keeps a mustache going.

Willem Dafoe brings his usual crazy-good energy to his character. But this time he’s not your typical Van Helsing from older stories; he’s called Albin Eberhart von Franz, which is like a double shout-out to people related to fairy tales and alchemy.

Long story short, everything comes together in this film for something really cohesive and artistic!
Lawless stretches the story out longer than the original, sticking with what you’d expect if you’re familiar with Eggers’ style. It mostly sticks to the same vibe without many surprises, aside from a fresh prologue at the start.