The following contains spoilers for Nosferatu.Nosferatustars and director break down Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) and Count Orlok’s (Bill Skarsgård) fate at the end of the movie. Directed by Robert Eggers, the 2024 remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name takes a different spin on the classic vampire tale. During the remake’s climax, Ellen calls upon Count Orlok and awakens him. Atthe end ofNosferatu, Ellen marries Count Orlok and joins him in death.
In an interview withUSA Today, Skarsgård, Eggers, and Depp discussNosferatu’s shocking ending. Skarsgård points out the movie walks the fine line between telling “a very heightened fairy tale/dark story” and love, sothe ending plays around the idea of danger and desire.He wouldn’t call the “craving” between Ellen and Orlok love, but it’s the closest thing to “relate to.” While reading the script, Skarsgård noted the finale as “death and ecstasy,” where Orlok is “mesmerized” by the sun and fearing it at the same time. Check out what he said below:
Skarsgård: I want people to go, ‘Is he going to bite her face off?’ And then it turns into a kiss. [Nosferatu is] a very heightened fairy tale/dark story, but also it’s two people potentially falling in love. It isn’t love, it’s something else, but love is maybe the closest thing to it that you can kind of relate to. If it’s not love, it’s a craving and it’s an appetite and it’s lust and desire to devour.
[Orlok is] seeing the sun for the first time in hundreds of years. So he’s mesmerized by it and fear and all of these different things. And in a way, maybe that is what Orlok wanted all along.
Eggers explains thatEllen is “the maiden” to Nosferatu’s “death,“which is a popular motif in art history. The director draws attention to the contrast in the last scene, where Nosferatu lies as a skeleton on top of Ellen, who’s as precious as a doll. Check out what he said below:
Eggers: When you see Lily-Rose looking like a doll and Bill looking like a skull with a mustache, it’s a powerful contrast.
Depp stresses that there’s “real sensuality and real desire” between Ellen and Count Orlok. At the same time, she’s “repulsed by him and petrified and horrified,” which makes their connection much more intense andthe ending “heartbreaking” and “bittersweet.“Check out what she said below:
Depp: [We want] real sensuality and real desire, which makes the scenes all the more engaging and scary. This young woman is repulsed by him and petrified and horrified, but at the same time, there is a longing there. [The end scene is] heartbreaking and kind of bittersweet in a way because she’s doing a good deed and she’s breaking the curse, but she’s also indulging in a dark desire that she has. We wanted all of those things to be palpable, to feel real.
What Their Comment Means For Nosferatu 2024 Remake
Count Orlok & Ellen’s Connection Is The Main Theme
At the end of Eggers' 2024 movie, Ellen pledges herself to Count Orlok by saying the sacred oath and consummating the marriage. Orlok drinks Ellen’s blood till the morning and perishes in the sunlight. The shocking ending sees Orlok dying in Ellen’s embrace while she’s drained of blood but smiling, whichsignificantly diverges from the 1922 movie, where Orlok crouches over her to drink her blood, both fully clothed.
Where To Watch Nosferatu On Streaming
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The changes in the 2024 remake addmore intimacy and nuancesbetween theNosferatucharactersto elaborate on the very complicated connection between Orlok and Ellen. Depp and Skarsgård’s comments touch on the contradictions and intense horror and romance elements in the movie, while Eggers' comment sheds light on how their performances are tied to the idea of “death and the maiden,” which is the film’s theme. Their comments also give insight into how the film’s ending may have revealed Nosferatu’s endgame and true intention, which is pure instead of evil.
Our Take On Nosferatu’s Ending
A Perfect Ending To A Romantic Horror
Nosferatuleaves viewers ona horrifying but beautiful note. Ellen fulfills her oath by joining the terrifying Count Orlok in death. She sacrifices herself and saves many others, but it seems that Ellen also satisfies her most intense desires in the process. Before the third and last night, there’s distance and an increasing level of horror between the two every time Nosferatu reaches out to Ellen. Despite the threat of death and nightmares, Ellen has no fear of Nosferatu when they finally meet in person. It’s even more shocking when Nosferatu indulges himself in physical pleasure.
The convincing performances from the cast are what makes the latest Eggers film so haunting, as noted inScreen Rant’s review forNosferatu, which praised the film as “a stunning gothic horror remakethat puts terror back into vampire lore.” Not only is the love connection between the vampire and the woman who called upon him intricately explored, but the film also goes back to the basics by shooting scenes with real mouses, candlelights, and castles.
Nosferatu
Cast
Nosferatu is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name from director F. W. Murnau. Robert Eggers is crafting his own version of the story for the reboot as writer and director, with Bill Skarsgård stepping into the shoes of Count Orlok. Nosferatu tells the tale of a young woman who falls victim to a vampire utterly infatuated with her.
