Renfield
Directed by Chris McKay from a screenplay by Ryan Ridley and Robert Kirkman , Renfieldstarts off unassailable before deteriorating in quality . Its premise , primarily having to do with leaving a codependent relationship , is keen on the airfoil , but the conclusion to focus on one too many plots derails the motion picture ’s potential and initial conceit . There is still some fun to be had , andRenfieldis goofy , with fantastic action sequences and a few comedic beats that land , but it could have also been so much more .
Robert Montague Renfield ( Nicholas Hoult ) has been Count Dracula ’s ( Nicolas Cage ) familiar for a century , but he ’s arise tired of being at the beck and call of his party boss , cleaning up his messes , and chance him the great unwashed to feed on . After nigh being killed by hunters , Renfield move with Dracula to New Orleans , where the intimate has connect a support group for those struggle to leave their codependent relationship behind . In a bid to help the members of the sustenance chemical group , Renfield goes after one of their toxic better half to course to Dracula , but gets trip up in the heart of the Lobo family ’s ( Ben Schwartz and Shohreh Aghdashloo ) criminal bodily process and traffic cop Rebecca Quincy ’s ( Awkwafina ) vendetta to stop them .
touch on : Nicolas Cage & Nicholas Hoult Interview : Renfield
Renfieldis occasionally entertaining . There are a few good jape to be had , especially when it comes to the absurdity of it all . Hoult fully lean into the pitiful son routine with Renfield , who is lost and frustrated and made to feel like a victim of Dracula ’s . There ’s promise in his eyes , but he ’s timid when it comes to standing up to his foreman , and Hoult micturate the most out of Renfield ’s defeatist attitude and inapt sense of wit . On the other hired man , Cage is having a blast playing Dracula , chewing up scenery and paying court to Bela Lugosi ’s loop of the character while still making it his own . Schwartz and Aghdashloo are also having a great time with their fiber , and they ’re just as piquant as Hoult and Cage are in their picture . Awkwafina has the unfortunate task of being the only straight - laced character , and the performance is touch because she does n’t get to be as unconscionable or silly as the residual of the stamp .
That said , Renfieldwould have ferment far better if Ridley and Kirkman had geld the pig and crime foreman plat all told . It ’s too convoluted and mussy , shoehorned into the film while weaken the primary story being secern . Some of the dialogue — imperfect and tacky as it is — does n’t help matters , and Renfield having to divvy up with the additional plot grows ho-hum the longer the plastic film goes on . At a little over 90 minutes long , that should n’t be the case , but tight writing and focus on Renfield and Dracula ’s relationship would have elevated the flick and made it far more likable .
Renfield’saction sequences are excellent , though . When the titular character gets going , the fights get quite blinking , with limbs flying everywhere ( which are employed with plenty of imagination by Renfield ) . The engagement choreography is particularly mythical and , set against optic - popping and colourful cinematography and set design , stand out in an otherwise mediocre pic . WhenRenfieldisn’t bogged down by the unnecessary subplots , which take out from its fundamental assumption , it can be very entertaining and genuinely curious , especially with the casting doing the most with the circumscribed script . Audiences will laugh because the film can be so over - the - top , but it wo n’t be as often as one might expect .
Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult in Renfield
For all its neglect opportunities , Renfieldstill has its charms . Unfortunately , the film has too much going on and is incapable of balance them all . Hoult and Cage are splendid , doing their good to uplift the film , but their performances are n’t enough to boostRenfield’spotential . The film is n’t dread , but sharply average . It could have been so much better if it ’d leaned all the mode into its whacky side . The hilarious premise is mightily there and the chief characters work well within its chief plot , but it ’s underutilized to make room for plot line that are n’t as fulfilling or playfulness , drive down the entertainment factor .
Renfieldreleases in dramaturgy Friday , April 14 . The celluloid is 93 minutes long and rated radius for bloody violence , some gore , language throughout and some drug use .
In this horror funniness , Renfield , the flunkey of Count Dracula , assist the far-famed lamia on his journeying to the young world . Unfortunately , the long - meet retainer is practice to an harebrained mental home after being frame for the murder of several ship crew member on arriver . When return a 2nd chance at life , he falls for a offbeat and belligerent traffic cop named Rebecca Quincy .
Shohreh Aghdashloo and Ben Schwartz in Renfield
Nicholas Hoult and Awkwafina in Renfield
