Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Watchable

It’s possible interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. However, it has to be said: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, it could be preferable over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect evoking Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.

The Narrative: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the earth in anguish for 400 years 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 vampire has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who might be the return of his lost love. By cruel fate, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), 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 small picture of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with comical sequences that occur when Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and in disc format from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.