“Nosferatu” is a 2024 supernatural horror directed by Robert Eggers. Lily-Rose Depp headlines the movie as Ellen Hutter, Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter, Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlock, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding, William Defoe as Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz, and Emma Corrin as Anna Harding. “Nosferatu” tells the story of the helpless woman who becomes the subject of a vampire’s obsession, one who will stop at nothing to claim her as his own.
The film opens in the 1800s with Ellen, a young woman yearning for companionship, calling out to the unknown, desperate to escape her loneliness. Almost instantly, a mysterious voice responds, promising to grant her deepest desire on one condition that she must surrender herself to him for eternity. Years pass, and Ellen is now married to Thomas, an honest and hardworking man employed by Herr Knock, a well-established figure in the real estate business. Their marriage is still new when Herr Knock assigns Thomas an important task to travel to a remote town in Transylvania. He needs to meet Count Orlock and finalize the sale deed for a mansion.
According to Herr Knock, Count Orlock is an extremely wealthy nobleman, nearing the end of his life, who wishes to settle down in an old English mansion where he can spend his final days in peace. Thomas is reluctant to leave Ellen behind, especially so soon after their wedding. But the offer is too tempting to refuse. Herr Knock promises him a generous raise, a hefty commission, and a secure future within the firm, an opportunity too good to pass up.
Ellen, however, pleads with Thomas not to go, sharing recurring nightmares that have been haunting her. However, despite her warnings, Thomas is swayed by the promise of success. Before departing for Transylvania, he entrusts Ellen’s well-being to his friend Harding and Harding’s wife, Anna. Thomas is worried that Ellen’s old melancholy might return in his absence. Harding is a wealthy and well-connected shipman, and he assures Thomas that Ellen will be well cared for and that he must not worry about her.
Thomas assumes the trip would be quick. He’d get Count Orlock’s signature and head back home to his beloved Ellen but he couldn’t have been more wrong. The moment he arrives in Transylvania, things take a strange turn. The locals become uneasy at the mere mention of Orlock’s name. They refuse to offer him a place to stay. Left with no choice, Thomas pays three times the usual rate for a night’s lodging.
That night, he experiences a disturbing dream where he sees the villagers performing a ritual, seemingly bringing a dead man back to life. The next day, Thomas finally reaches Orlock’s castle, only to be met with an unsettling presence. The Count is an eerie, frail-looking old man, yet he is anything but weak. His voice carries a chilling menace, and he commands three vicious wolves like obedient pets. Without delay, Orlock insists that Thomas produce the deed for signing, disregarding all of Thomas’s suggestions to wait until morning.
Overcome with fear, Thomas loses consciousness. When he wakes, he finds himself presented with a document written in an ancient language. Count Orlock assures him it’s nothing more than the deed for the mansion sale. Desperate to leave the damned place, Thomas signs it without question. But the moment he asks to leave, Orlock denies him permission. Orlock even snatches Thomas’s locket, the one holding a lock of Ellen’s hair, and refuses to give it back.
With each passing day, Thomas grows more terrified, sensing he may never leave the castle alive. In a bid to escape, he stumbles upon a hidden chamber housing a massive coffin. Lifting the lid, he finds Orlock, fast asleep. Seizing the opportunity, Thomas attempts to drive a wooden stake through the Count’s heart but falters at the last moment. That night, Orlock invades his chamber, sinking his teeth into Thomas’s chest, and draining his blood but before the Count’s wolves can finish him off, Thomas manages to escape. Weak and barely clinging to life, Thomas finds refuge with a group of nuns who plead with him to rest but Thomas refuses. Thomas knows Orlock is heading for Wisborg for his wife, Ellen.
After Thomas leaves, Ellen falls gravely ill, plagued by terrifying dreams and restless murmurs about someone coming for her. She begins sleepwalking and suffering from seizures, prompting her family to seek medical help. A physician named Wilhelm examines her and tries various treatments, but nothing seems to work. At his hospital, Wilhelm encounters Herr Knock, who has also been admitted after losing his sanity. His attendants reveal that Knock was caught slaughtering sheep and eating them raw. Like Ellen, he predicts the arrival of someone who will bring chaos and darkness to the world.
After exhausting all conventional treatments, Wilhelm suggests seeking help from Albin Eberhart Von Franz, a scientist shunned for his studies on the occult and supernatural. When Albin examines Ellen, he makes it clear that she isn’t suffering from any illness but is under the influence of an ancient evil. He calls it Nosferatu, the Romanian word for vampire.
Orlock arrives in England by hiding inside a coffin aboard a ship, unleashing thousands of plague-carrying rats upon the city. The same night, he appears in Ellen’s chambers and threatens her that if she doesn’t come to him willingly within three nights, he will kill Thomas. He also reveals that the deed Thomas unknowingly signed wasn’t a property contract but a document that nullified their marriage. When Ellen tries to warn Thomas about Orlock’s intentions, the Count reacts with fury. That same night, he kills Anna and her children while Harding sleeps. Overcome with grief, Harding succumbs to the plague soon after.
Albin and the others devise a plan to kill Nosferatu by locating his coffin and driving a stake through his heart. That night, they discover Orlock’s resting place but instead of the vampire, they kill Herr Knock, who had been sleeping inside. Thomas finally understands the truth that Albin had deliberately misled him, bringing him along, knowing very well that Orlock wouldn’t be in his coffin. Earlier, while going through Herr Knock’s books, Albin found that the only way to destroy Nosferatu is if Ellen willingly gives herself to him. Albin had already informed Ellen of this, and she had made him promise to keep Thomas away, ensuring he wouldn’t interfere.
As the film reaches its climax, Ellen invites Orlock into her chambers, telling him she is his. Aware that he cannot resist her blood, she offers herself willingly, allowing him to feed on her until sunrise. Orlock sinks his teeth into Ellen’s chest, drinking her blood without realizing dawn is approaching. As foretold in the books, the first crow of the rooster signals his end and Orlock is caught in the sunlight and burns to death. Thomas arrives just as Ellen takes her final breath, holding her hand as she passes peacefully. Albin soon follows, expressing his regret, but explains that Ellen’s willing sacrifice was the only way to destroy Orlock and end the plague consuming the land.
