Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Watchable

Maybe interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. Still, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.

The Narrative: A Chronicle of Longing

The plot unfolds as follows: the count has wandered endlessly the earth in anguish over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty for his faithless sorrow after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for a lady who would be the return of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to review his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he willingly includes offering humorous scenes with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, in addition to comical sequences that result after Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.