A film about Dracula’s sidekick, Renfield, seems like a good idea, particularly when Nicolas Cage is cast as the ultimate vampire.
But midway through “Renfield” you realize director Chris McKay didn’t know if he wanted a comedy or a drama. Some scenes manage a few titters, but most are deadly serious. Heads roll, arms and legs fly, blood flows.
In short, it’s a gory mess.
Cage drifts in and out of the story while Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) deals with more pressing matters – the Lobo crime family. Led by the imperious Bellafrancesca (Shohreh Aghdashloo), the family is determined to get back at a rookie cop (Awkwafina) who is around when Renfield becomes super-powerful and takes out most of the Lobo henchmen. That puts a bounty on their heads and, soon, the film is dabbling in another genre.
Dracula (Nicolas Cage), left, keeps Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) under thumb in "Renfield."
Dracula, meanwhile, is hoping to get back to his old fighting strength after his own close encounters with fire. He needs blood (of course) and thinks Renfield can provide (shades of “Little Shop of Horrors”). While he’s recuperating, the two new friends work the streets of New Orleans.
Naturally, the Lobo family hooks up with Dracula and you can about guess where they’re headed.
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Cage isn’t afraid to bring the quirk, even though he’s not on screen much and his voice seems dubbed. Hoult is a good “familiar” (as vampire assistants are known) and could have done this without the drug cartel subplot. Just hosting his master through Louisiana could have provided plenty of fun – particularly if Drac had tried to wear a bunch of disguises and assumed the role of influencer.
To kill time, Renfield attends a codependency support group, hears others’ sad stories and realizes he can go it alone if he musters enough courage. Eating bugs makes him super-powerful (capable of cool martial arts moves), but there’s also the down time when he’s just another schlub. Thanks to the support group, he brightens his wardrobe, picks up his step and becomes something of a new man.
Awkwafina has a much more serious story to unpack and, rarely, fools around. She’s determined to make her mark with the Lobos. She has a sister, too, who’s connected to the FBI and a boss who insists she stay in her lane.
When Renfield shows up, all bets are off. The two new partners know how to even the score and begin to plot their course when Dracula returns and begins to feel himself again.
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The showdown (between Lobos, vampires and two renegades) moves quickly. Easily, it’s the best part of the film. But it takes more energy than you’d think to get there.
Had McKay focused on the boss/employee relationship a bit more, he could have made references to today’s corporate world. Instead, he stakes a different claim and, repeatedly, comes up dry.
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The Journal's Top Stories for the week of April 9, 2023
