Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Passionate Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Engaging

It’s possible interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. However, one must admit: his richly designed vampire romance displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character of the Despicable Me series. This character suits him perfectly.

The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the earth in sorrow for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty for his irreligious grief over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for some woman who would be the return of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his land assets and the small picture of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of global roaming in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he is not above giving us humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, as well as farcical scenes that follow Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.