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Tag: Nicholas Hoult

QuickView: Nosferatu (2024)

Nosferatu posters

“Does evil come from within us, or from beyond?”

Ellen Hutter

I was surprised that an auteur like Robert Eggers would choose to remake an existing film, but unlike the plethora of creatively bankrupt recent remakes he has gone back 100 years to F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film, blending it with a dash of Tod Browning’s Dracula. The original Nosferatu adapted Bram Stoker’s novel for German audiences, but Eggers was apparently drawn to its story granting greater agency to Ellen, the female lead, in her ending of the vampire curse. His goal in remaking it was for the whole film to be told from her perspective, not merely the final act, and the physicality of Lily Rose Depp’s performance sells this choice. The city of Visburg remains Germanic but its inhabitants all have decidedly London sensibilities. There are some peculiarities in the casting that will amuse fans of vampire cinema — Nicholas Hoult switches sides from his recent outing in Renfield, while Eggers regular Willem Dafoe previously played a fictionalised version of the 1922 film’s star in Shadow of the Vampire. Eggers has always been inspired by older styles of filmmaking which he uses to craft atmospheric worlds, but here the storytelling feels as ponderous as it does ominous. The gothic visuals are sublime, like the black and white castle approach with Hutter a silhouette at a white snowy forest crossroad. Bill Skarsgård may be relegated to the shadows for most of the film but he embodies Count Orlok magnificently, from the asthmatic, rhotic accent to the spidery fingers and smooth movements, behind the most noticeable change to the iconic bald vampire — a bushy, Vlad Tepes moustache. Nosferatu is evocative and frequently absorbing but one is left feeling that Eggers is perhaps stronger without the unnecessary constraints that come with respectfully retreading old ground.

7/10

QuickView: Renfield (2023)

“I will no longer tolerate abuse. I deserve happiness!”

Renfield

Horror comedy Renfield starts promisingly with a contemporary riff on Dracula’s familiar that refashions him as an absurd action superhero (who needs to consume bugs for his powers) protecting his vampire master whilst attending support groups for those stuck in co-dependent relationships. His origins are explained via a montage of recreated scenes from Tod Browning’s 1931 Dracula, with an arch Nicolas Cage stepping into Bela Lugosi’s cape. Nicholas Hoult works well as the beleaguered Renfield dreaming of freedom, though he perhaps leans too far into the everyman role. Cage naturally revels in an entirely evil character and theatrical overacting even through layers of prosthetics. Unfortunately this energy is paired with a hackneyed B-plot as Awkwafina’s traffic cop tries to take down a crime family to avenge her murdered father. It does little other than provide an excuse for Renfield to engage in cartoonish action sequences where unexpected gore is frequently a punchline in a similar way to The Boys. Director Chris McKay has comedy experience — he edited The Lego Movie and directed Lego Batman — but it tends to be the visual gags and physical humour that land. Renfield tries to breathe fresh life into the lore of Dracula, and it does so briefly, but this is a reanimated corpse rather than a resurrection.

6/10

QuickView: The Menu (2022)

“You don’t think Chef is mad at me, do you?”

Tyler

Mark Mylod’s gastronomic satirical thriller skewers the “foodie” world with relish, pairing a deconstruction of the participants with a zesty assault on how it serves to drain the joy of food that should sit at its heart. A handful of diners have been invited to an exclusive tasting menu at Chef Slowik’s remote island restaurant. The wild card, and audience perspective, is Margot ⁠— a last minute substitution by Tyler when dumped by his girlfriend. Anya Taylor-Joy’s expressiveness is perfect for Margot’s utter disdain for the theatrics taken so seriously by the guests ⁠— she is the only one to realise they are being insulted, and confident enough to refuse to play Slowik’s game. Meanwhile the verisimilitude of the meticulously constructed food and minimalist decor creates a distorted space within which it feels the film could frequently veer in any direction. The Menu presents the world as split into servers and consumers, though it satirises both sides of the divide: Slowik’s self-obsession is no better than the diners’, albeit more purposeful, holding his staff in cult-like sway. The film’s cruelty, however, is reserved predominantly for the wealthy, its wider critique being the blight of capitalism and its widening inequality. The food critics engaged in competitive intellectual snobbery may also make a certain type of film critic squirm uncomfortably. At its best The Menu is deliciously unexpected and, although it runs a little too long in reaching “an ending that ties everything together conceptually”, the final course is a satisfying conclusion to a most unpredictable meal.

7/10

QuickView: Newness (2017)

“I think we’re going to get bored of each other.”

Gabi Silva

After a cynical opening look at the hookup culture facilitated by dating apps, the film follows a new couple who want a more meaningful connection despite meeting after they change their statuses in exasperation to “DTF”. Concerned about boredom in the absence of new experiences, the couple start to experiment, flirting with others and then taking it further. The setup is ripe for an intriguing exploration of polyamory in the modern world and the film’s middle act seems to be leaning in that direction. Sadly, the desire for a more conventional conclusion requires it to abandon this more interesting avenue. Ironically, then, there is little new here. The most compelling ideas come from the older man Gabi meets, whose transactional view of relationships is unromantic and yet more realistic than anything else on display.

6/10

"A film is a petrified fountain of thought."

(CC) BY-NC 2003-2025 Priyan Meewella

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