Is Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror woke?
Nosferatu (2023)
Movie
Released: January 1, 2023
Wokeness Score
7/10
Strongly Ideological
Woke messaging is very prominent and often feels forced or shoehorned in. Characters and plot are primarily shaped to serve the ideology. Many viewers feel the agenda overshadows the entertainment.
Key Summary Points
- Ellen elevated as empowered feminist heroine with agency and sacrifice to defeat patriarchy-linked evil
- Vampire portrayed as immigrant 'other' spreading plague, inviting modern race, immigration, and colonial critiques
- Graphic sexual content and focus on female shame/sexuality push ideological exploration of Victorian gender norms
Wokeness Analysis
Robert Eggers' 2024 Nosferatu remake elevates the female lead Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) to the central heroic figure who actively summons and ultimately sacrifices herself to defeat the vampire through her own agency and occult powers, reframing the classic tale as a commentary on Victorian-era patriarchal constraints, female sexuality, shame, and empowerment. This shift introduces intentional feminist reinterpretation absent in the 1922 original, with Ellen portrayed as a complex woman transcending 'unrealistic ideals' for her time rather than a passive victim. Critics highlight the film's exploration of sex, power, race, and empire through the vampire's foreign 'otherness' and plague-spreading arrival, echoing modern anxieties around immigration, contagion, and colonialism, while the all-white cast (save one minor role) and Roma depictions draw accusations of exoticism or orientalism. Additional elements include graphic nudity, explicit sexual violence, and queer-adjacent casting praise, alongside Marxist readings of class exploitation. These elements feel prominent and often prioritize thematic messaging over pure horror escapism, though balanced by strong atmospheric storytelling and performances. The result is a message-driven update that resonates with progressive social commentary on gender and otherness, alienating viewers seeking unadorned gothic horror.
Plot
Set in 1838 Germany, Robert Eggers' Nosferatu follows newlywed Ellen Hutter, who as a lonely child inadvertently psychically summons the ancient vampire Count Orlok. Her husband Thomas travels to Transylvania to sell Orlok a property in Wisborg, unwittingly bringing the plague-bearing monster to their town. Orlok becomes obsessively fixated on Ellen, unleashing horror, disease, and death. Ellen must confront her connection to the creature and make a ultimate sacrifice to end the terror, with help from occult expert Professor von Franz. The film emphasizes gothic atmosphere, erotic obsession, and period authenticity over the 1922 silent classic's more straightforward dread.