Dracula Review – The French Director’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Engaging

Perhaps interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. Still, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

The story is this: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the world in anguish over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment for his faithless sorrow after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for a lady who could be the rebirth of his lost love. By cruel fate, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from offering some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to comical sequences that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

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