Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Passionate Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Absurd but Engaging

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. Still, it has to be said: his richly designed love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the sinister Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Carell’s Gru character from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss

The plot unfolds as follows: the count has been restlessly roaming the globe in torment over four centuries since he became undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has sought relentlessly for a lady who could be the reincarnation of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his real estate holdings and the small picture of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he willingly includes providing 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, as well as comical sequences that occur when Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.