WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Nosferatu.Actor Lily-Rose Depp has impressed audiences with her jaw-dropping performance in director Robert Eggers’s horror filmNosferatu, and a 43-year-old movie is partly to thank for it. In the movie, Depp portrays a woman who falls under the psychic influence of the evil vampire Count Orlok. The demonic episodes she experiences as she falls under the undead plague carrier’s spell make for some of themost shocking scenes inNosferatu.
As a remake of the 1922 film of the same name,Robert Eggers’sNosferatumainly draws inspiration from it and Bram Stoker’s novelDracula, which inspired the original movie. However, there is a more obscure horror film from 1981 that inspiredthe 2024 version ofNosferatu, specifically Depp’s portrayal of protagonist Ellen Hutter.The former movie also revolves around a woman who seems to become involved with an otherworldly force, and the way Depp pays homage to said film inNosferatustands as a testament to its impact as a cult classic.
For Nosferatu, Lily-Rose Depp Drew From Isabelle Adjani’s Performance In Possession
One of the greatest influences on 2024’sNosferatuis director Andrzej Żuwałski’s 1981 psychological horror filmPossession. In an interview withIndieWire, Lily-Rose Depp spoke about how, along with the Japanese performance art form"Butoh",Isabelle Adjani’s character inPossessioninspired her wildly physical performance as Ellen inNosferatu:
“I thought a lot aboutPossession. Isabelle Adjani has an incredible and iconic performance in that. She also was an Ellen of the past [in Werner Herzog’s 1979Nosferatu the Vampyre], and so I was very honored to carry the French girl Baton to play Ellen in this version. She’s an actress that inspires me a lot.”
Similar to Ellen Hunter, Adjani’s character inPossession, Anna, experiences mental health problems during her husband Mark’s absence.The most notable similarity between the two characters is the violent and bestial seizures they experienceat the height of their conditions. While Ellen’s episodes show her shifting in and out of the demon Orlok’s control, Anna ends up having a gory miscarriage alone in a subway inPossession’s most infamous scene. Despite the differences, both characters appear to display a frightening and primal form of possession brought on by loneliness and some supernatural entity.
2024’s Nosferatu Parallels 1981’s Possession
Nosferatu And Possession Feature Stories Of Marriages Destroyed By Dark Forces
Similar toPossession, 2024’sNosferaturevolves around a young married couple whose relationship falls apart when the wife appears to be overwhelmed by a supernatural creature.Nosferatuclearly shows that Ellen’s condition is the result of Count Orlok’s dark magic. Meanwhile,Possessionleaves it unclear whether Anna did become involved with a monstrous entityor if the latter was a manifestation of her psychosis.
Nosferatu’s Ending Reveals Count Orlok’s Most Important Difference To Dracula
There are a handful of differences between Dracula and Nosferatu, but the biggest one influenced pop culture vampires for over a century.
Nevertheless, likePossession, Ellen, Thomas, and Orlok get caught up in abizarre love triangle inNosferatuthat erodes the protagonists’ marriage. While Ellen finds herself under the spell of the demonic Orlok,Anna has an affair with a tentacled monster that she nurtures in secret. Likewise,Possession’s monster inexplicably turns into a doppelgänger of Anna’s husband, Mark, making it Anna’s ideal version of her spouse. This unusual twist contrasts with how Ellen tries to avoid the evil and murderous Orlok, being the worst possible person for her to be with.
Lily-Rose Depp successfully honors Isabelle Adjani’s work inPossessionby delivering another unsettling but spectacular performance as the spiritually tormented Ellen inNosferatu.
WhileNosferatuandPossessionhave significant differences,they both feature intense depictions of lonely women who seek comfort in seemingly paranormal companions.Lily-Rose Depp successfully honors Isabelle Adjani’s work inPossessionby delivering another unsettling but spectacular performance as the spiritually tormented Ellen inNosferatu. Like Adjani, Depp’s portrayal of her character should help makeRobert Eggers' moviebecome a modern horror classic.
