Dracula Film Analysis – Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Entertaining

Perhaps interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. Still, it has to be said: his richly designed vampire romance has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, it could be preferable over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. This character suits him perfectly.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the world in torment for hundreds of years since he became undead, a punishment for his faithless sorrow over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who would be the rebirth of his deceased partner. Unfortunately, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style

Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he willingly includes providing some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to absurd moments that follow Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.

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