Nosferatu: Ellen's Psychosexual Horror & Ending Explained

The Take Film TV Movie

Analyzing Ellen's terrifying psychological and carnal connection with the vampire Count Orlok and what it all means in the new 2024 remake of Nosferatu  Nosferatu, director Robert Eggers’...

Transcript

00:00Nosratu, director Robert Eggers' enthralling new adaptation of the iconic film,

00:04starring Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Holt, and Bill Skarsgård, has had everyone talking.

00:09While it might have been snubbed by the Oscars nominations,

00:13audiences have found a lot to love, and be horrified by, when it comes to the film.

00:18But what is it really that makes this movie so haunting?

00:21And why is it so, uh, spicy?

00:25Let's unpack all of that and more.

00:26There aren't here. Nosferatu.

00:30Nosferatu is a remake of the film of the same name from 1922, directed by F.W. Murau,

00:36which in the last century has cemented its place as one of the most iconic horror movies of all time.

00:42Story is based on Bram Stoker's gothic horror novel Dracula.

00:46The title Nosferatu comes from the seemingly mistranslated word for vampire mentioned in Dracula.

00:51The name change was part of a number of changes made to the story and characters

00:55in an attempt to avoid copyright infringement issues with the Dracula property and Stoker estate.

01:01In the same way that Dracula has gone on to inspire countless retellings,

01:05Nosferatu has also spun off a world of its own,

01:08and in fact was the original source for a lot of things that we all now associate with vampires,

01:13like the son full-on killing them.

01:15While Dracula is usually portrayed as a pretty suave, if imposing guy,

01:20Nosferatu went in a much more deliberately creepy direction.

01:23And Eggers took that and ran with it in his new adaptation.

01:28And I tell you, if we are to tame darkness, we must first face that it exists.

01:34Like with every adaptation, versions of these stories are usually used to say as much about

01:38the time in which they're made as about the area in which the story is set.

01:43Nosferatu covered a lot of ground, from plagues to othering to the horror of war to the occult and beyond.

01:48It's interested in looking at how all of the different facets of society intersect,

01:53and can begin to turn in on themselves when put under immense pressure.

01:57Eggers is less interested in the wider implications of the story,

02:01and instead has chosen to zoom in on the psychological horror that befalls the main characters.

02:06At the center of the film is protagonist Ellen's connection with the evil vampire Count Orlok himself.

02:12Standing before me was death, but I'm a savvy.

02:19While their bond is psychic, happening across continents,

02:22there's clearly a carnal aspect to it as well.

02:25So what is this really all about?

02:28Every version of Nosferatu, and Dracula, has a throughline of psychosexual elements.

02:34How overt they can be about it has of course been updated with the times.

02:37Vampires in general have long been connected thematically to the idea of sexuality.

02:42They only come out at night, attack in a rather sensual manner.

02:46But the key narrative thread, particularly when it comes to female characters,

02:51is the way that the vampires are used as a metaphor for societal fears of women being overtaken by desire.

02:57Someone, something that reaches out from beyond the grave and fills me with horrible impulses.

03:05In the same way that there's a thought that becoming sexual will make a young woman impure,

03:10vampires make that thread literal.

03:12Once she's bitten, she's changed forever.

03:15There's no going back to the innocent she was before.

03:19She has, as you might put it, grown up.

03:22Tasted the more sophisticated, more exotic fruits of life.

03:27Oh my god.

03:28God is hardly involved.

03:30And now that she's been bitten, she's marked as a different kind of woman.

03:35Someone to be feared or hunted.

03:37If you want to live to see another day, you'll be out of town by nightfall.

03:40You've been exposed to them.

03:42One way or another, somebody's going to take you out.

03:45All versions of Nosferatu have carried this theme in regards to Ellen's connection with Orlok to some degree.

03:50However, instead of just being objects of desire or damsels in distress,

03:55these women have been allowed agency.

03:57They're not only actively involved in the plot,

04:00but also the one to come to the solution to the problem and set it in motion.

04:05And so it makes sense that Eggers chose to zero in on Ellen's emotional turmoil in his retelling.

04:10Far from sensual, here, her sexual experiences careen into the horrific,

04:15in line more with possessions and exorcisms than more common images of eroticism.

04:20She is psychologically pulled apart by the opposing pulls of wanting something or someone

04:26that you know you shouldn't, and not even really knowing why.

04:29Ellen had unsuspectingly connected with Orlok years earlier when, in a moment of loneliness,

04:35she called out for companionship and shook him awake from his eternity of darkness.

04:40Ever since, she's been plagued by visions of him,

04:43leading her to convulsions and contortions that not even she can control.

04:47Orlok's horrific nature is made even more tactile in this version.

04:51Orlok has always been a creature of the undead,

04:54but here he is very obviously something that should no longer be.

04:59His connection to life and the living long gone,

05:02tethered now only by what's left of his repulsive, crumbling body.

05:07There's no question of if Orlok is evil, that's made quite clear.

05:11The film instead seems to be pondering,

05:14what does it mean to still be drawn in by this power even when you know that it's evil?

05:19To be well aware of the danger represented,

05:22but still be unable to will yourself away.

05:25Ellen's connection to Orlok and her fight against it is contrasted against Nock,

05:29who has given himself over to Orlok completely,

05:32and has been driven fully mad by it.

05:35Another, less tangible horror that Ellen experiences is that of not being believed.

05:39She really has to fight to get so many around her to understand the true nature of her fit.

05:44There's an interesting comparison here to be made with another of Eggers' heroines,

05:48Thomasin from The Witch.

05:50Thomasin comes from a poor family who is shunned from their community,

05:54and she is blamed for everything bad that happens,

05:57even though she has nothing to do with it.

05:59I am no witch, father.

06:00What did I but say in my house?

06:02Will you not hear me?

06:03I'm breathing, come fast.

06:04Why have you turned against me?

06:06Ellen is well off,

06:07and so no matter how wild she acts or how much she tries to explain her connection to evil,

06:12everyone just assumes there must be some other explanation,

06:16and seek a cure instead of punishment.

06:18But in both stories, we see how the societies in which these young women exist

06:23attempt to contain them,

06:24and become confused and upset when they don't stay restrained within those mold.

06:29Ellen agreed to the initial pact with Orlok when she was young and naive,

06:33and had no idea what she was signing herself up for,

06:36and feels like, as a result of this,

06:38she's had her innocence stripped away.

06:40She feels not just compelled by, but controlled by Orlok and his power.

06:44No matter how hard she tries to build a different life,

06:47he's always there at the edge of the darkness,

06:49waiting to pull her back in.

06:51In the end, as in the original,

06:53Ellen comes to realize that only she has the power to stop Orlok,

06:56and the plague he brings,

06:58and she'll have to sacrifice herself to do it.

07:01This does seem to fall in line with the trope of women needing to be punished for being sexual,

07:05but it's deeper than that.

07:06She does want to save everyone else,

07:08but she also wants to free herself from the mental plague of Orlok.

07:12She understands that,

07:13in the same way that he must be defeated to stop his reign of terror on the town,

07:17taking him out is the only way she'll ever be free from his grass,

07:21even if that means she goes down with him.

07:24After being tormented under his spell for so long,

07:27she uses their connection to her advantage,

07:29and calls him to her one last time.

07:32He feeds on her, sealing their connection and their fate,

07:35but is so consumed by it that he doesn't realize until it's too late

07:38that this was part of a trap she set for him.

07:41The sunlight beams in through the windows and finally vanquishes him for good.

07:46While many love the new film,

07:48some have noted that it felt a bit empty

07:50because it decided to leave behind so much of the commentary inherent in the original stories,

07:55to instead focus more on just this one aspect instead.

07:58As Liz Shannon Miller wrote for Consequence,

08:00there are a few minor twists on the material.

08:03If nothing else, Max Schreck's Count Orlok didn't hang dong the way Bill Skarsgård's does.

08:07But areas where a modern touch would make a lot of sense,

08:10such as the patriarchal treatment of its female characters,

08:14or the impact of plague terrors on a small community,

08:16go unexplored.

08:18And all the major plot beats are the familiar ones,

08:21pleading to a narrative with almost zero suspense to it.

08:23While it's true that many of the original story's themes are incredibly relevant to our current moment,

08:29the destruction wrought by a plague,

08:31the dangers of mob mentalities,

08:33the reality that so many issues come from the wealthy attempting to ignore reality

08:36because they don't want to deal with the ramifications, etc.

08:39Zooming in on this one aspect does allow it room to be an interesting

08:43and frightening psychological study of Ellen.

08:46We also get to feel like we have a bit of a deeper understanding of Orlok himself,

08:49and how utterly depressed and dead he really is.

08:54And so, when, in the end, he realizes that the sun is coming,

08:57he doesn't even try to flee,

08:59but instead stares right out into it as it airfries him to a crisp,

09:03because he realizes that even getting the object of his desire

09:07didn't really sate his thirst or end his pain,

09:10and that nothing ever really would.

09:13Nosferatu is faithful to the original story and the beats of the plot and the characters,

09:17but does cut off on its own path to focus on the bits Eggers is most interested in.

09:22But that's what adaptations are for.

09:24If you want to watch the original,

09:25you can watch it for free anytime you'd like since it's public domain.

09:29This modern version is aimed more at capturing the horror of the original

09:32in a way that resonates with modern audiences,

09:34but it also isn't afraid to have its meditative moments.

09:37Like all of Eggers' films,

09:39the visuals are simultaneously murky and expressive,

09:42pulling you into the depths of their darkness.

09:45The movie does a great job of creating a tightly suffocating atmosphere

09:48with the set design and costuming,

09:50which then makes Orlok and the experiences with him

09:53feel more electric and free-flowing in contrast.

09:56And Nosferatu is full of great performances,

09:59so don't be afraid to give it a watch, if you dare.

10:01I have seen things in this world

10:04that would have made Isaac Newton crawl back into his mother's womb.

10:08That's the take.

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