Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Romantic Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Watchable

Perhaps interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. However, one must admit: his opulently crafted vampire romance has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the sinister Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the world in torment for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty for his irreligious grief after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a female who could be the reincarnation of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his property portfolio and the small picture of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he is not above offering funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as absurd moments that follow Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and for physical purchase from 22 December. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.