Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Love-Struck Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Watchable
Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. However, it’s worth noting: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Clever but Weary Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – it’s surprising he never took on this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the malevolent vampire count, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This is a part that he too was born to take on.
The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing
The plot unfolds as follows: the count has traveled ceaselessly the world in anguish over four centuries since he became undead, a penalty for his irreligious grief following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for a female who could be the rebirth of his lost love. Unfortunately, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his land assets and the small picture of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he is not above giving us some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with farcical scenes that follow Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
