Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Watchable

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. Still, it has to be said: his opulently crafted love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I might just favor to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the sinister Dracula, brought to life by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Narrative: A Saga of Heartbreak

The story is this: Dracula has wandered endlessly the globe in anguish for hundreds of years since he became undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for a female who could be the rebirth of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the count’s castle to negotiate his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch

Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to farcical scenes that occur when Dracula douses himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Ridiculous and watchable.

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