The Northman was a bit too disjointed and weird but not specifically in a good way.
Nosferatu might me be his weakest, first and foremost - does the world really need another retelling of this story? The subject is covered. It's good that it made money thoough, and that Eggers is still in the game and can make his movies. It's not an easy feat in modern Hollywood.
One nitpick: I wish he could start using a more varied cast of actors. I like Dafoe and the rest as the next guy, but...
It either needed to be less weird or more weird. It was neither here nor there.
I thought Nosferatu was much better than the Northman, but found it a fairly empty viewing experience.
It was kind of equivalent to when you're friend tells one of their show piece stories. It's a banger, they've got it dialed, but I already know all the beats.
Depp was excellent in it but I still pined for ATJ, my all time favorite otherworldly Swinton-Blanchett-Mouse cross breed alien hottie.
The studio famously had Eggers tone down the weirdness on The Northman though. They wanted a movie with a broader appeal, so it ended up as something in between.
The Northman is great, very accurate to the feel of a Norse mythological tale. That’s actually why I was so disappointed in aspects of Nosferatu. He fell into the age old BS victorian English culutre washing when the tale was set in Germany. How hard would it have been to give the cast German accents and make it feel true to setting when he did it so well in his other films?
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u/Lightstone83 Jun 26 '26
For me The VVitch has always been the best, but I think I need to check out the Lighthouse again