Renfield (2023)
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A weary servant of Count Dracula seeks a new purpose in life while navigating a codependent relationship with his master.
The story
In the early 20th century, the Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula meets English lawyer R. M. Renfield. After proving to be a useful assistant, Renfield becomes Dracula's familiar, gaining immortality and supernatural abilities. Ninety years later, weary of his abuse and the cycle of bringing victims to his master, Renfield moves to New Orleans to recuperate. There, he discovers a 12-step self-help group for people in codependent relationships. While attempting to find a way to provide for Dracula without remorse, Renfield finds himself entangled in a violent conflict involving a rival crime family and a police officer.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In the early 20th century, Count Dracula meets English lawyer R. M. Renfield, who becomes his familiar, gaining immortality and supernatural strength. Ninety years later, a weary Renfield moves to New Orleans with Dracula to recuperate after a near-death encounter with vampire hunters. Renfield joins a 12-step self-help group for codependent relationships and attempts to provide Dracula with 'pure' blood from a restaurant, leading to a violent confrontation with police officer Rebecca Quincy and the Lobo crime family. As Renfield tries to forge a life independent of his master, Dracula discovers the betrayal and slaughters the support group. Rebecca rescues Renfield from corrupt police and the Lobos. They eventually discover that Dracula has empowered several gang members with Renfield's supernatural abilities. After a final battle where Rebecca tricks Dracula into sunlight and they capture him in a magical circle, Renfield beats Dracula into pieces, scatters his remains, and resurrects his self-help friends with Dracula's blood.
- First release year
- 2023
- Runtime (minutes)
- 93
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Chris McKay
- Writers
- Ryan Ridley · screenplay; Robert Kirkman · story
- Cast and characters
- Nicholas Hoult · Renfield; Awkwafina; Ben Schwartz; Shohreh Aghdashloo; Brandon Scott Jones; Adrian Martinez; Nicolas Cage · Count Dracula
- Genres
- comedy; horror; action
- Themes
- Codependency; Betrayal; Independence
- Tone and mood
- Comedy; Horror; Action; Gothic
- Premise and plot tags
- Vampire; Comedy; Horror; Action; Crime
- Source material / true-story basis
- Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula and the 1931 Dracula feature film
- Franchise connections
- Universal Monsters
- Content notes
- R-rated
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was considered a box-office bomb, grossing $26.9 million on a $65 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 53 · scale: 100 · review count: 49; CinemaScore · score: B– · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 86% · scale: positive score
- Awards and nominations
- Best Supporting Actor · Saturn Awards · 51st · win
- Production trivia
- The film's black-and-white opening scenes recreate the events of Dracula (1931) with Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult inserted in place of the original actors.; The film was described as a comedic approach to the story of Count Dracula, in the vein of Taika Waititi's vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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