Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Watchable
Perhaps interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. And yet, it’s worth noting: his richly designed love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – it’s surprising he never took on this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the sinister Dracula, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.
The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has wandered endlessly the earth in torment for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has looked tirelessly for a female who would be the return of his departed beloved. Unfortunately, the chosen woman is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
Besson’s Direction and Lighthearted Touch
Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of global roaming in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he willingly includes offering some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with comical sequences that result after Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and for physical purchase starting the twenty-second of December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
