Nosferatu (Robert Eggers, 2024, USA/UK/Hungary)

Nosferatu is the long-awaited fourth feature film from American genre auteur Robert Eggers. The third version of Nosferatu following F.W. Murnau's original and Werner Herzog's remake, this version stars Bill Skarsgard in heavy makeup as the titular Nosferatu - Count Orlok. Featuring an ensemble cast of young (and not so young) talent including Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the film is poised to be a box-office success for Eggers following the commercial disappointment of his prior film, the more action-heavy The Northman.

As with all Eggers films, Nosferatu is filled with sumptuous visual flair and period detail. This is the kind of film that you wish to spend time in. It is fully transportive to another time - in this case, mid-century Germany. The film's opening is a masterclass in building atmosphere and a transportive visual world. The journey of Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter to Orlok's castle is surely one of the finest versions of this journey put to screen. Those familiar with the Dracula story will not altogether be so surprised by the events unfolding onscreen, but Eggers brings enough visual flair to keep things entirely interesting throughout.

While the film heads towards its inevitable finale, the film explores various German Expressionist styles. Willem Dafoe appears later in the film as the Van Helsing character (in this version, Professor von Franz). While still showing the arthouse stylings of his prior efforts, Nosferatu moves at a solid pace. Remarkably, its arthouse stylings have managed to get a B- CinemaScore given the attention span of audiences in 2024. The film's box office success is a great sign for Eggers and for similar projects to get greenlit in the future. Nosferatu is one of the best films of the year and lives up to the hype.

8/10