Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Engaging

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. And yet, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that appears to show a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. This is a part he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the world in anguish for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment for his irreligious grief following the loss of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has sought relentlessly for a female who could be the rebirth of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the count’s castle to discuss his land assets and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with absurd moments that follow Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.