Nosferatu is an official adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and as such, it had to make some changes to the novel, but one key difference makes Nosferatu more heartbreaking. In 1922, F. W. Murnau’s German Expressionist vampire movie Nosferatu was released, with a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. Nosferatu is now one of the most influential horror movies in film history and is regarded as a classic. Over 100 years after its release, Nosferatu got a new remake, this time with Robert Eggers as writer and director.
Eggers’ Nosferatu takes the audience to the early 1800s to meet Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), who, when she was a young girl, summoned a supernatural being to ease her loneliness. Now in 1838, and married to Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), they, along with their loved ones, are haunted by this supernatural presence, who is none other than the decrepit vampire Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). Nosferatu made changes and additions to Murnau’s classic, but it also has one key difference from Stoker’s novel that makes it more heartbreaking.
Nosferatu Convinces Us That Ellen & Thomas Are Genuinely In Love
Ellen & Thomas Were A Loving Married Couple
Nosferatu opens with Ellen summoning Orlok and he showing up, with Ellen having a very physical reaction to his presence, shaking and choking. The movie then cuts to Ellen in her and Thomas’ room, where the audience gets its first glimpse into their life as a couple and their relationship. When Nosferatu introduces Ellen and Thomas, they are already married, and they look very in love with each other. Thomas’ departure is very hard for Ellen, not just because of her dreams and feelings of something being wrong, but because she’s genuinely in love with him.
It’s Ellen’s love for Thomas that makes her worry about Count Orlok’s presence, even more when Jonathan is so close to him, just like her love for her friends, Anna (Emma Corrin) and Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), makes her fear about what might happen to them. Count Orlok is aware of the genuine love between Ellen and Thomas, so much so that he tricks Thomas into signing a document that voids their marriage, further forcing Ellen to submit to him within three nights.
Mina’s Connection To Dracula Overpowers Her Relationship With Jonathan In Many Adaptations
Mina’s Relationship With Jonathan Becomes Secondary
Like Ellen and Orlok, Mina has a connection to Dracula, though the origin of it varies depending on the adaptation.
Ellen and Thomas’ love is an extra motivation for Count Orlok to go after Ellen and torment her, while in Dracula and many of its adaptations, Mina and Jonathan’s relationship is overshadowed by the Count’s connection to Mina. Like Ellen and Orlok, Mina has a connection to Dracula, though the origin of it varies depending on the adaptation. In the novel, Dracula learns of the plot against him by Van Helsing, Mina, and the rest and takes revenge by biting Mina and feeding her his own blood, thus dooming her to become a vampire. In Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation, for example, Mina was the reincarnation of Dracula’s wife, Elisabeta.
No matter the origin of their connection, in most adaptations and the novel itself, it ends up overpowering Mina’s relationship with Jonathan. Their mission to find and kill Dracula becomes a lot more important and takes the spotlight, while, in Nosferatu, Ellen’s relationship with Thomas is a big part of her motivation to kill Orlok, and their relationship plays parallel to her connection to Orlok. This makes 2024’s Nosferatu more emotional and personal, and its ending more tragic.
Ellen’s Sacrifice Is More Powerful Because She Is Giving Up The Happiness She Had Despite Orlok Haunting Her
Ellen Sacrificed Herself For Everyone Else’s Safety
At the end of Nosferatu, Ellen and Von Franz (Willem Dafoe) realize that the only way to defeat Orlok is by tricking him into being exposed to sunlight; however, for that, Ellen has to distract him long enough for the sun to rise. Von Franz helps her by taking Thomas somewhere else under the excuse of going to kill Orlok while he sleeps in his coffin. In reality, Ellen submits herself to Orlok and lets him feed on her, keeping him awake long enough for sunlight to kill him. Unfortunately, this also kills Ellen, and Thomas and Von Franz arrive too late.
Ellen makes the hard decision of sacrificing her happiness with Thomas and their life together to save him and the rest of the town.
Thanks to Ellen’s sacrifice, Thomas is saved and the plague is stopped, but Thomas seeing Ellen ᴅᴇᴀᴅ on their bed is pretty heartbreaking. Ellen makes the hard decision of sacrificing her happiness with Thomas and their life together to save him and the rest of the town. Her relationship with Thomas is the one true happiness Ellen has, even while being haunted by Orlok, and her having to sacrifice it, along with her life, makes her story in 2024’s Nosferatu more powerful but also more tragic.
