Nosferatu is a 2024 American Gothic horror film written and directed by Robert Eggers. It is a remake of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922), which was in turn inspired by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897); the film combines elements of both. It stars Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, and Willem Dafoe.
Development began in 2015, when Eggers planned to make it his second film; he described it as a passion project, but eventually opted to delay its production. Skarsgård and Depp were cast in lead roles in September 2022. Filming took place primarily at Barrandov Studios in Prague between February and May 2023.
Nosferatu had its world premiere in Berlin on December 2, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States by Focus Features on December 25. The film received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, grossing $182 million worldwide on a $50million budget, becoming Eggers' highest-grossing film. At the 97th Academy Awards, the film earned nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Plot A young girl named Ellen prays for a companion to ease her loneliness. She inadvertently contacts a powerful being known as the Nosferatu, forging a psychic link between them.
In 1838, Ellen has married Thomas Hutter, and they live in Wisburg, Germany. Thomas is sent to Transylvania by his employer, Herr Knock, to sell the decrepit Grünewald Manor to the reclusive Count Orlok. He leaves Ellen with his friend Friedrich Harding and his pregnant wife Anna, who have two daughters. Unbeknownst to Thomas, Knock is actually in league with Orlok.
Arriving at a Transylvania hamlet, Thomas is shunned by the locals when he mentions Castle Orlok. That night, he witnesses a group of Roma exhuming and staking an alleged vampire's corpse, which gushes blood. He wakes up to the hamlet deserted and his horse gone. He continues on foot until a mysterious carriage takes him to Orlok's castle.
Distracted by Orlok's appearance during dinner, Thomas cuts his hand, which agitates the Count. He wakes up on the floor of the dining room the next morning. Orlok completes the home sale and takes Thomas' locket, containing a lock of Ellen's hair. Thomas discovers bite marks on his chest and becomes increasingly ill and fearful. While attempting to escape the castle, he ends up in a crypt where he finds the Count asleep in a coffin, naked and decayed. When Orlok awakens and gives pursuit, Thomas falls into a river and is rescued by Eastern Orthodox nuns. They explain that Orlok became a vampire after making a pact with the Devil. Orlok sets sail for Wisburg inside his coffin on a ship with plague-carrying rats.
Meanwhile, Ellen, under Orlok's influence, begins suffering from seizures and sleepwalking. Her doctor, Wilhelm Sievers, consults with his former mentor, Albin Eberhart von Franz, a Swiss scientist ostracized for his occult beliefs. Von Franz confirms that Ellen is under Nosferatu's demonic influence. Knock is institutionalized after killing and eating sheep raw. Von Franz reveals that sunlight will kill Nosferatu.
Thomas returns to Wisburg as Orlok's plague ravages the populace. Knock escapes and escorts Orlok to Grünewald Manor. Orlok appears to Ellen in her nightmares and tells her that Thomas "sold" her to him for his commission of the home sale (he could not read the documents as they were in Orlok's language). He demands that she submit to him in three days or he will kill Thomas. She awakes to find Anna being attacked by plague-infested rats. Ellen berates Thomas for allowing Orlok to take advantage of him, resulting in them having troubled sex. Orlok retaliates by killing Anna and her children. Upon seeing Orlok's bites on Thomas, Friedrich realizes the couple was telling the truth. Mad with grief, Friedrich dies from the plague at his family's graves.
Von Franz's research suggests that a fair maiden's willing sacrifice can destroy Nosferatu. Knowing that only she can stop the plague, Ellen conspires with von Franz to keep Thomas away. Thomas, von Franz, and Sievers go to Grünewald Manor, where they accidentally kill Knock after finding him sleeping in Orlok's coffin. Thomas realizes the deception as Ellen summons Orlok and allows him to feed on her until sunrise. Distracted by her, Orlok is killed by the sunrise. Thomas returns and holds Ellen's hand as she dies, while von Franz confirms that her sacrifice has freed them from Nosferatu.
Cast
Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter: A woman who in her lonely youth sought "a guardian angel, a spirit of comfort... anything". This wish opens the door—through a psychic connection—to the Nosferatu, who becomes obsessed with her. Wife of Thomas. Based on Bram Stoker's character Mina Harker. Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter: A real estate agent living in the German city of Wisburg. He wishes to become a partner in the Knock brokerage, so he will take on any task to get the promotion. Husband of Ellen. Based on Bram Stoker's character Jonathan Harker. Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok / Nosferatu: A mysterious nobleman and vampire who lives alone in his ruined castle and wants to acquire a new property in Germany. It is suggested he was once a Solomonar who was cursed by the Devil to become a vampire. Sunlight is lethal to him and he can only inhabit the "cursed land" where he is buried. Based on Bram Stoker's character Count Dracula. Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding: A wealthy shipbuilder, Anna's husband, father to Clara and Louise, and a vampire skeptic. Based on Bram Stoker's character Arthur Holmwood. Willem Dafoe as Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz: A controversial Swiss philosopher, expert in alchemy, mysticism and the occult. He is the only character who truly understands the strange psychic connection between Count Orlok and Ellen. Based on Bram Stoker's character Abraham Van Helsing, whose counterpart was Bulwer in the silent film. Emma Corrin as Anna Harding: Friedrich's pregnant wife, mother to Clara and Louise, and Ellen's confidante and best friend. Based on Henrik Galeen's character Ruth, who is in turn based on Bram Stoker's character Lucy Westenra. Ralph Ineson as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers: A doctor that tries to treat Ellen with conventional "modern" medicine. Based on Bram Stoker's character John Seward. Simon McBurney as Herr Knock: Owner of the Knock brokerage firm and Count Orlok's devoted servant. He employs Thomas in the purchase and sale of Grünewald Manor after making a secret pact with Orlok. He has delusions that force him to eat living beings. Based on Bram Stoker's character Renfield. Adéla Hesová as Clara Harding Ella Bernstein as the English voice for Clara Milena Konstantinova as Louise Harding Meredith Diggins as the English voice for Louise
Production Development In July 2015, the remake of Nosferatu (1922) was announced with Robert Eggers writing and directing. Jay Van Hoy and Lars Knudsen were slated to produce the film for Studio 8. In November 2016, Eggers expressed surprise that the Nosferatu remake was his second planned film, saying, "It feels ugly and blasphemous and egomaniacal and disgusting for a filmmaker in my place to do Nosferatu next. I was really planning on waiting a while, but that's how fate shook out." During an interview with Den of Geek around the release of The Lighthouse (2019), Eggers revealed that although he had dedicated a lot of time to bringing the story into the 21st century, he did not know when or if it would happen. He said that he "spent so many years and so much time[...] it would be a real shame if it never happened".
Script
Eggers's early fascination with Nosferatu ignited a passion for filmmaking that would shape his career. He became inspired by both Henrik Galeen's screenplay and Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula and with high school classmate Ashley Kelly-Tata adapted the story for the stage, performing it at their school. Their production caught the eye of Edouard Langlois, who invited them to transfer it to New York City's Edwin Booth Theatre. Eggers stated that "vampirism and Dracula is the thing that I've been thinking about and looking at for a long time". "I had read Montague Summers as a teenager, and many other authors of vampire lore, but I think, until I set out to make Nosferatu, I was still too contaminated by the cinematic tropes. And so, you're infusing things you're reading with cinematic tropes that aren't there. In doing the research to write this script, I needed to be disciplined to forget what I knew. And then, you start looking at the really early vampire accounts, and you're like, 'They're not even drinking blood, they're just strangling people, or suffocating people, or fucking them to death.' And that was really interesting". He also decided to let Orlok drink from the victims' chest instead of their neck, as old folklores often imagined vampires drinking blood from the chest right above the heart.
The character of Orlok is partially inspired by Vlad Dracula, the 15th-century Voivode of Wallachia, after whom the original Dracula was named. Eschewing the monstrous appearance of F. W. Murnau's Orlok or the Anglo-literary vampire appearance, Eggers preferred the appearance of a folk vampire, claiming that "there's never been a version of Dracula or Nosferatu dressed like a Transylvanian nobleman with authentic Hungarian attire from the 16th century." The count was written more like an undead corpse, instead of looking sexy or as an actual monster, an element from early vampire myths. Costume designer Linda Muir sought inspiration from the Transylvanian military from around 1560 to the mid-1600s, incorporating pieces of clothing such as dolman, mente or kolpak into Orlok's costume. Eggers explained that Orlok was given a mustache because "there's no way this guy can't have a mustache". In old Transylvanian culture, all men who could grow a mustache would have a mustache. According to prosthetic makeup effects designer David White, Orlok's physique was partially influenced by Ötzi, a natural mummy discovered in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps: "[Eggers] really wanted the feeling of Orlok having had all life sucked from him, every last drop of blood." Conceptualizing Orlok as an ancient Romanian count, Eggers made the decision to have him speak a reconstructed form of the Dacian language in the film, while Romanian and Romani are spoken by other Transylvanian residents.
The film makes a nod to director Victor Sjöström's silent classic, The Phantom Carriage (1921). Eggers also explored the work of French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot and his findings on so-called hysteria and took inspiration from Andrzej Żuławski's films Possession (1981), The Devil (1972) and The Third Part of the Night (1971). Further influences on Eggers's adaptation include Svengali (1931), Beauty and the Beast (1946), Great Expectations (1946), The Queen of Spades (1949), Andriesh (1954), The Innocents (1961), The Eve Before Ivan Kupala (1968), and The She-Butterfly (1973).
Casting In August 2017, actress Anya Taylor-Joy was cast, reteaming with Eggers after The Witch (2015); she was still attached to the project in 2020, though her specific role had not been announced. Harry Styles had been cast to star opposite Taylor-Joy, but dropped out of the project in 2021 citing scheduling concerns.