Nosferatu (2025) – Movie Review

TL;DR – This is a film that is both deeply compelling but also profoundly unsettling. You want to look away, but something keeps drawing you back in.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Ellen screams.

Nosferatu Review

Few films have the legacy of Nosferatu. This story has been foundational to the horror genre generally and vampire films specifically. Nearly every movie in this genre either references the original Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens or consciously does not reference that film. But when you are working in a space shared by Bram Stoker, F. W. Murnau & Werner Herzog, you must bring your a-game, and I think Robert Eggers did.

So, to set the scene, Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) has newly married the love of his life, Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), but his finances mean that he has to live under the kindness of his friend Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Wanting to give the world to his new love, Thomas takes up a job as a real estate agent in his town of Wisborg under the auspices of Herr Knock (Simon McBurney). It is here that he is given the job to travel all the way to Transylvania to meet with a reclusive Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) to sign a property deed. Everyone advises that he should not go, but go he does, not knowing he has fallen into a dastardly trap.  

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Voyagers – Movie Review

TL;DR – While it is clearly treading across old ground, I still found the narrative and the cast to be compelling throughout.    

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Voyagers. Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Voyagers Review

When you are talking about scenarios that immediately capture your attention, humans escaping Earth to try and colonise another planet to make sure humanity survives is one of those that immediately catches my attention. When it is done well, you are drawn into this world of desperation and struggles of leaving behind what you love for the unknown, but you lose the humanity for spectacle when it is done poorly. Today we look at a film that kind of swings between these poles in parts, but never the less left an impact on me.

So to set the scene, in 2063, the climate on Earth is steadily worsening as the planet warms, leading to the genuine suggestion that humanity might not survive as a species. However, in this moment of darkness, scientists find what they believe to be a habitable planet. The only problem is that it will take over 80 years to reach it with the current technology. This means that those who leave on the trip will likely not be alive when it arrives, and indeed it will probably be their grandchildren, the third generation, that will survive. Given the danger and pressure to get a scouting ship out as soon as possible, they decide to grow a purpose crew that has never seen the big open world so they won’t miss it during the long ride. However, that means they are just children, so Richard Alling (Colin Farrell), their teacher decides to join them on the one way trip into the dark to help prepare them for those moments when it all goes wrong.     

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