Renfield, 2023.
Directed by Chris McKay.
Starring Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Jenna Kanell, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Bess Rous, James Moses Black, Caroline Williams, Camille Chen, Joshua Mikel, Derek Russo, Rhonda Johnson Dents, Christopher Matthew Cook, Michael P. Sullivan, Rosha Washington, T.C. Matherne, Marcus Lewis, Marvin Ross, Gabriel ‘G-Rod’ Rodriguez, Stephen Louis Grush, Keith Brooks, Dave Davis, Chloe Adona, and Joshua Mikel.
SYNOPSIS:
Having grown sick and tired of his centuries as Dracula’s lackey, Renfield finds a new lease on life — and maybe even redemption — when he falls for feisty, perennially angry traffic cop Rebecca Quincy.
Chris McKay’s modern-day Dracula flick, told from the perspective of his conflicted but ultimately loyal assistant Renfield, is based on an original idea by Robert Kirkman. The question is, of the many ideas bouncing around across Ryan Ridley’s messy screenplay, which idea is being referenced? There are juicy ideas here, but the filmmakers sure don’t seem to realize which ones they should sink their teeth into.
Truthfully, Renfield had me, beginning with the titular familiar (someone bestowed a fraction of Dracula’s superhuman abilities in exchange for carrying out his requests, albeit temporary powers functioning like a video game, only activating upon devouring some bugs) at a group therapy session for codependent lovers stuck under the thumb of narcissistic partners they don’t have the courage to leave. The stories resonate with Nicholas Hoult’s Renfield, making room for brief exposition (appropriately depicted in black and white) jumping back centuries ago, showing how he was taken advantage of at a low moment and ended up as Dracula’s latest lifelong servant.
Portraying the dynamic as toxic workplace abuse not far off from conditional relationships is fresh. Immediately after, there is another genius touch, as it turns out, the other reason Renfield is listening in on these painful confessions is to find the abusive partners, kill them, and use them as meals to keep up Dracula’s strength. Whoever is responsible for that entire twisted fun concept deserves a raise.
The issue is that Renfield not only takes an overwhelmingly comedic tonal approach (it’s admirable that Nicolas Cage is invested enough to camp up every scene and grotesque appearance with eccentricities, but he never comes across as intimidating or terrifying, which is a problem considering the narcissist angle), but crams in one too many subplots including a traffic cop Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina, stuck with her amusingly angry routine and not much of a character worth caring about) grieving the loss of her police officer father, not having her drive and conviction taken seriously by the department and eventually going rogue against a corrupt institution to bring down a local drug empire run by Shohreh Aghdashloo’s Bellafrancesca Lobo and her incompetent, all-talk gangster son Tedward (Ben Schwartz).
Meanwhile, Renfield is experiencing a moral awakening, disinterested in killing and bringing Dracula kindhearted, innocent people for feasting. Corrupt souls are insufficient at restoring his power, so he demands a bus full of cheerleaders (insisting that it’s not a sexual thing but rather about purity). The idea that a redemption arc is even on the table for someone that has been murdering innocent civilians for decades upon decades is an absurd notion that the film plays straight once he and Rebecca find themselves on the same page, so the pivot away from a darker story about murdering abusers to feed Dracula to crime nonsense quickly becomes frustrating.
None of the above is helped by the crime syndicate presented as thinly-sketched, forgettable drug empire caricatures. And while this is not Dracula’s film, one can’t help but feel the dynamic between Renfield and the Prince of Darkness is fumbled, considering Dracula spends roughly half the running time in various impressively crafted weakened makeup states, at one point referring to himself as looking like a diseased animal. For a movie that’s also supposed to be about how difficult Dracula has it in modern times, the script doesn’t fully take advantage of placing these two together in hijinks to make that statement.
This is also simply not a funny movie, cribbing running jokes from other IPs. There’s an officer several characters pice on, often saying, “fuck you, Kyle, “like Cartman from South Park. Whenever the script incorporates and riffs on the codependent relationship angle between Renfield and Dracula, there is cleverness to be found, but there is no focus on what works. However, some credit is deserved for not skimping out on an abundance of violence and gore but staying practical with most special effects. Sure, the fight scenes themselves are haphazardly edited with constant quick cutting and no flow, but there are a few sick quick kicks to be had, such as watching Renfield wielding severed limbs as nunchucks. So it is a shame everything surrounding Renfield‘s central concept sucks
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
