Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Engaging

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. Still, it’s worth noting: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, it could be preferable to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This is a part suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

The story is this: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the earth in sorrow for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his irreligious grief following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has sought relentlessly for a female who would be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. Unfortunately, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the count’s castle to discuss his real estate holdings and the small picture of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch

Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he willingly includes providing some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, along with farcical scenes that follow Dracula douses himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.