Critics are split on Universal’s new Dracula movie Renfield, which is receiving mixed reviews regarding the film’s tone, storytelling, and genre-blending. From director Chris McKay, Renfield brings Dracula to modern-day New Orleans as his long-time titular henchman decides to explore life outside his master’s debased shadow. With the help of Awkwafina’s traffic cop Rebecca Quincy, Nicholas Hoult’s Robert Montague Renfield has a new lease on life that’s disrupted by the jealousy and revenge of Nicolas Cage’s Dracula.

While the inspired casting of Nicolas Cage as Dracula has long been anticipated, critics’ early responses to Renfield are divided. At the time of writing, Renfield holds a 61% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, which indicates a mixed response verging on the more positive side. While critics generally agree on where the movie succeeds or needs improvement, the mixed nature of Renfield’s reviews largely lies in how important its faults are to the overall enjoyment of the movie.

5 Critics Don’t Agree On Renfield’s Balance Of Gore, Action & Comedy

Nicolas Cage as Dracula in Renfield

Universal's theatrically-released movie Renfield is a genre mashup of gory horror, bloody action, and comedy, but critics are split regarding how well the balance pays off. Some reviews suggest that Renfield goes overboard with its gory action while not putting enough bite into its wit and comedic beats, ultimately leaving the film half-baked. Similarly, many of Renfield’s negative reviews remark that the movie’s action is overbearing compared to its horror, which yields more of a gory superhero or goofy John Wick-style action movie.

On the other hand, some critics note that Renfield’s mix of gore and action is what elicits its best comedic moments. While the horror aspects appear to be lacking in Renfield’s scenes without Nicolas Cage’s Dracula, positive reviews indicate that the movie is an entertaining experience due to its genre blend. Still, rather than an effective horror-comedy, Renfield appears to be more of an action-comedy with horror homage, thus underscoring why critics are mixed about its genre balance outcome.

4 Renfield’s Negative Reviews Think It Needed To Be More Campy

Renfield Teddy Lobo Family

Critics agree across the board that Nicolas Cage is giving his all as an outrageously fun and scary Dracula in Renfield, but the problem lies in the campiness of the rest of the movie. Renfield’s mixed reviews indicate that Cage’s Dracula is campy enough, but the story and other performances aren’t up to the same level as the Oscar winner. The horror-comedy blend brilliantly set up Renfield for a campy take on Dracula's underrepresented henchman story, but critics believe the film didn’t dive deep enough into its genre and character exaggerations to earn this style description.

3 Renfield’s Mixed Reviews Still Praise Nicolas Cage

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Nicolas Cage’s performance as Dracula has received the most widespread acclaim from critics. Cage’s vampire in Renfield understands the campiness that the film was going for, with his on-screen presence being the most enjoyable aspect of the story for many critics. Renfield’s mixed reviews note that when Nicolas Cage is giving an exaggerated Dracula performance, the movie and its themes about narcissism work well. Critics have indicated that even when the story and its overall genre balance falter, Renfield is saved by the intensity, excitement, and mastery of Nicolas Cage as the Prince of Darkness. Ultimately, Cage effectively breathes life into this modern Dracula adaptation that may have failed worse with critics otherwise.

Related: Renfield Continues The 2020s Best Nicolas Cage Trend

2 Critics Are Split About Renfield’s Storytelling Faults Outweighing Its Gory Fun

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Shohreh Aghdashloo and Ben Schwartz in Renfield

Another reason why Renfield’s reviews are so mixed is that the 2023 movie’s storytelling is undercooked compared to its priority on gory action and physical gags. Universal's horror-comedy story is underscored by Hoult’s eponymous henchman R.M. Renfield finally recognizing that he is in a toxic, co-dependent relationship with Count Dracula, who has abused and gaslit him for nearly a century. While Renfield finally tries to become a better person by saving innocent lives, refusing Dracula’s orders, and helping to defeat the corruption in New Orleans alongside Awkwafina’s character Rebecca, critics note that the many story elements are overstuffed without being effective.

Although Renfield’s mixed reviews generally agree on the fact that the movie’s storytelling capabilities are lacking, critics are split on how important this is to whether the movie works or not. More positive reviews suggest that Renfield is still a fun and entertaining time, with gory action and horror jokes that outweigh the narrative shortcomings. On the other hand, Renfield’s more negative reviews generally note that while the gory action really goes for it, this doesn’t make up for its inability to offer something deeper and groundbreaking enough to be effective. Furthermore, negative reviews for Renfield suggest the Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult movie is overly hollow in its exaggerated genre amalgamation.

1 Renfield’s Reviews Are Mixed About Its Psychological Themes

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Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult in Renfield

The overarching themes in Renfield are meant to be timely reflections of pop culture conversations and recent movements in history, largely in relation to toxic relationships, codependency, narcissistic bosses, and survivors reclaiming power from their abusers. Especially after the Me Too movement, these topics came to the forefront of cultural conversations in the wider workplace and relationship environments as well as Hollywood itself. In response, Renfield’s themes are striving to underscore how a modern monster who has been abused for a century would change his perspective based on these growing conversations.

For the first time, Renfield realizes that, like those in his support group, he can lead a greater life if he can leave Dracula. However, Dracula’s narcissism and power, like many real-life people who abuse their authority, keep Renfield from being able to achieve his full potential. Renfield obviously exaggerates the themes to spin a classic vampire tale, but critics are split about whether the movie’s ability to effectively turn Cage’s Dracula into a spurned lover and gaslighting narcissistic boss worked in regard to the title character’s 90-minute journey.

While the underlying themes in Renfield had plenty of potential, some critics on Rotten Tomatoes believe that the psychological undertones of the script were “lazy.” Negative reviews also suggested that it created an unbalanced tone in which the pop psychology elements were one of the few occasions in which Renfield took itself seriously. Others remark that plenty of ideas about psychology, therapy, and self-love are introduced in Renfield, but don’t take hold or have effective payoffs. Alternatively, some of Renfield’s more positive reviews state that the movie’s themes and twist on modern psychology ideas give it a depth that makes the characters more approachable and compelling.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes