Luc Besson’s ‘Dracula: A Love Tale’ – lavish French vampire epic splitting critics

Flamboyant visual of Luc Besson's new Dracula, this image from the film Dracula reveals the baroque and gothic aesthetic of Dracula: A Love Tale. By portraying Vlad, Caleb Landry Jones offers a melancholic version of the vampire imagined by Bram Stoker. This Luc Besson film revisits the myth with excess and romance, far from historical realism. The Dracula trailer had already announced this deluge of golden sets, eternal passions, and tormented characters. This scene, between opera and feverish dream, illustrates the freedom taken by the director with the casting of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. More than ever, this Bram Stoker's Dracula film stands out as a unique visual object, as fascinating as it is exasperating.

With Dracula: A Love Tale, Luc Besson revives the most famous vampire in cinema. A romantic and offbeat epic, oscillating between grand spectacle and self-parody. This Dracula film elicits cries of admiration and screams of terror. Indeed, it’s a release that no one ignores. However, not everyone appreciates it.

Luc Besson: Return of the Prince of Darkness

Luc Besson returns to haunt theaters with a project that is both ambitious and risky: adapting the myth of Dracula in his own way. Premiered at the UGC des Halles, this Luc Besson film marks the grand return of the director of The Big Blue, after a long period of media eclipse. Behind his displayed joviality, the filmmaker barely hides the ambiguity of his recent years, marked by controversies.

The director thus offers his own distribution of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a luxury and offbeat version. With a colossal budget of 45 million euros, it is the most expensive French film of the year 2025. Moreover, it aims to be in the lineage of great adaptations, between Murnau and Coppola, not forgetting a few nods to assumed kitsch.

The Myth Vampirized by Love

Here, Dracula is not just a monster: he is above all a forlorn lover. It all begins with Vlad Dracul, a 15th-century Romanian prince, played by the enigmatic Caleb Landry Jones. However, the tragic loss of Elisabeta drives him to defy God and wait four centuries for her return. Thus, the curse becomes a timeless love story, on the edge of romantic absurdity.

Caleb Landry Jones establishes himself as the beating heart of the film Dracula. Revealed in Nitram and Three Billboards, he explores here the pain of a prince turned vampire. His Dracula is more in love than monstrous, between operatic melancholy and violent impulses. A haunting performance, sometimes unsettling, but always unique.
Caleb Landry Jones establishes himself as the beating heart of the film Dracula. Revealed in Nitram and Three Billboards, he explores here the pain of a prince turned vampire. His Dracula is more in love than monstrous, between operatic melancholy and violent impulses. A haunting performance, sometimes unsettling, but always unique.

A Flamboyant Aesthetic at the Risk of Ridicule

Besson’s staging openly flirts with surrealism and baroque. The vampire prince’s castle accumulates gilding, extravagant costumes, and tortuous sets worthy of a gothic fairground. Moreover, the eccentric music of Danny Elfman completes the plunge of the viewer into an atmosphere oscillating between grandeur and farce.

A Gallery of Colorful Characters

The international cast mixes boldness and surprises, sometimes disconcerting:

  • Caleb Landry Jones (Nitram, Dogman), an eccentric dandy, plays Dracula as a melancholic prince sometimes close to burlesque.
  • Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained), irresistible as a priest overwhelmed by the supernatural.
  • Matilda De Angelis, the sunny Italian revelation from The Undoing, brings freshness to the role of Maria.
  • Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette (The Big Blue), doubles the faces of lost love, Elisabeta and Mina.
  • Ewens Abid, a young hope of French cinema, portrays a surprisingly rational Jonathan Harker in this gothic tumult.
  • Haymon Maria Buttinger gives a haughty and delightfully irritating cardinal.
  • Ivan Franěk, accustomed to austere roles (The Accursed Kings), rigorously plays a captain overwhelmed by events.
  • Guillaume de Tonquédec, a popular actor seen in Fais pas ci, fais pas ça, brings a comedic touch as Dr. Dumont, bewildered but curiously endearing.
Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette, embodies both Elisabeta and Mina, two figures of lost love. Delicate and ethereal, she moves through the film like a haunted memory. Her presence brings a poetic breath to the film Bram Stoker's Dracula. A subtle revelation, between innocence and mystery.
Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette, embodies both Elisabeta and Mina, two figures of lost love. Delicate and ethereal, she moves through the film like a haunted memory. Her presence brings a poetic breath to the film Bram Stoker’s Dracula. A subtle revelation, between innocence and mystery.

Between Fidelity and Liberties: A Bold Assumption

Besson generally respects the original text of Bram Stoker published in 1897, but dares surprising script liberties. Thus, Dracula now travels to Paris, India, or Iraq, at the risk of disconcerting purists. The Dracula trailer had already announced this choice of improbable geographical wanderings.

The Vampire as a Mirror of the Filmmaker

This Dracula Luc Besson also resembles a distorted self-portrait of the director. After failures and controversies, Besson returns transformed, yet still flamboyant and provocative. “This Dracula is my version,” he claims, fully embracing the excesses and blunders of his adaptation.

Matilda De Angelis, already acclaimed in The Undoing and Lidia Poët, plays Maria, a human at the heart of chaos. She embodies reason in the face of excess, tenderness in the face of myth. Her freshness contrasts with the gothic aesthetic of the Luc Besson film. A sensitive and luminous counterpoint.
Matilda De Angelis, already acclaimed in The Undoing and Lidia Poët, plays Maria, a human at the heart of chaos. She embodies reason in the face of excess, tenderness in the face of myth. Her freshness contrasts with the gothic aesthetic of the Luc Besson film. A sensitive and luminous counterpoint.

A Film That Divides, but Marks the Year

Critics oscillate between fascination and annoyance. Some denounce clichés and heaviness, particularly in the caricatural treatment of female characters or the visual excess. Yet, it is hard to deny that this Dracula Bram Stoker film in Besson’s style will remain a major event in French cinema in 2025.

Christoph Waltz, a two-time Oscar winner, plays a priest overwhelmed by the forces at work. Balancing irony and solemnity, he adds a discreet humor to the baroque fresco. His detached perspective brings a meta touch to Luc Besson's Dracula. A delightful supporting role, perfectly suited to his wit.
Christoph Waltz, a two-time Oscar winner, plays a priest overwhelmed by the forces at work. Balancing irony and solemnity, he adds a discreet humor to the baroque fresco. His detached perspective brings a meta touch to Luc Besson’s Dracula. A delightful supporting role, perfectly suited to his wit.

A Successful Troupe Despite Long Teeth

With this reinterpretation of the Dracula myth, Besson bets on an eclectic cast with already established careers. Each actor convincingly carries a character on the brink of excess. The result is a fresco where involuntary humor often rivals scenes of sincere emotion, leaving an unforgettable memory, for better or for worse.

This article was written by Pierre-Antoine Tsady.