Renfield

Universal Pictures | Release Date: April 14, 2023

6.4	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 128 Ratings

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imthenoobJun 9, 2023

Cage and Hoult are great together. Sadly, their performances are buried under a plot that is needlessly convoluted and uninteresting. We didn't need this whole nonsense of police corruption and a controlling mob. That just ruined the movie IMO.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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aubispossibleJul 21, 2023

The movie is so stupid! Dracula's performance was good, but the film ruined the faith of the original Dracula movie. It's nice to see the flashbacks, but, the blood and gore is way too much. It's not fun! It's stupid! The writing and scenesThe movie is so stupid! Dracula's performance was good, but the film ruined the faith of the original Dracula movie. It's nice to see the flashbacks, but, the blood and gore is way too much. It's not fun! It's stupid! The writing and scenes are just awful! The movie is terrible!… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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hnestlyontheslyMay 22, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One of the issues I have with Renfield is that the premise is so specific. We take a vampires and vampirism and then cheekily mash it up with social vampirism and–ta-da! presto!–a dark comedy! But who is this supposed to hit in the feels? Which of us has plotted the murder of innocent or not-so-innocent victims for the benefit of a manipulative narcissist? Why is Renfield someone we are supposed to understand through the metaphor of co-dependence? Don’t get me wrong, I love me some codependence! Rick and Morty do it so well in the Whirly Dirly Conspiracy and their exploration of the tendency in a bunch of different arcs on the show. Netflix’s Love is all about the melancholy and the self-loathing that is inherent in attaching your apple wagon to someone else’s star. But for the most part, Renfield is a heterosexual comedy that uses the skeleton of a breakup movie plot to allow for Nicholas Hoult to make eyes at Awkwafina without really justifying their attraction for one another. There are a lot of strange family ties in this movie. Everyone has to be related to everyone else for their motivations to make sense: Awkwafina’s dad was a police officer in the department she’s now a part of. Her sister works for the FBI conveniently located in the same building as her work. Jean Raphio’s the son of a local New Orleans crime lord. I’m honestly surprised all of them aren’t somehow genetically linked to Dracula. I think I was hoping that the fight sequences would feel similar in absurdity and creativity to Violent Night, but no dice. Most of the action is tightly framed such that it’s hard to visually read what’s happening. Body count is high. The gore is played up for shock value but a lot of those scenes are so long that they lose their luster. There are some wonderful things that the movie does with–and I know what you’re going to say–chloroform. Look, I am the last person who expected myself to write that sentence down, but it’s true. And the hypnosis trope, though still very much something I am skeptical of, feels appropriate here, precisely because so many characters push back on the idea that their decisions are non consensual.

In lieu of seeing this movie, I want to float some other ideas for mashups of genre horror films and pop psychology: 1. Swamp Thing with OCD 2. Ghosts with Childhood Trauma 3. Evil Kleptomaniac Dolls 4. An Agoraphobic Mummy 5. Hypochondriac Babadook… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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YukiRuuMay 20, 2023

Мое почтение создателю трейлера! Из такого кала сделать нарезку которая смогла привлечь сильное внимание к фильму - это талант, которого нет у режиссёра и сценариста фильма.

My respects to the creator of the trailer! To make a cut out ofМое почтение создателю трейлера! Из такого кала сделать нарезку которая смогла привлечь сильное внимание к фильму - это талант, которого нет у режиссёра и сценариста фильма.

My respects to the creator of the trailer! To make a cut out of such feces that could attract strong attention to the film is a talent that the director and screenwriter of the film does not have.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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