Dracula: A Love Tale – Movie Review (2/5)

DRACULA: A LOVE TALE is a new gothic romance horror movie by Luc Besson, who steals from at least three other movies. I almost found myself experiencing second-hand embarrassment as yet another movie was being downright plagiarized. Also, despite the fact that I like Caleb Landry Jones, he is miscast in this. Read our full Dracula (2025) movie review here!

DRACULA: A LOVE TALE is Luc Besson’s take on the iconic Gothic novel by Bram Stoker. And also, it’s a new take on about three previously released movies, which Luc Besson borrows heavily from. So much so that I feel he steals and plagiarises. Actually, it feels like something an AI would have come up with if you asked it to make a new Bram Stoker adaptation based on those three movies.

And yes, I will get back to exactly what those three movies are. Especially because I suggest (and highly recommend) that you watch those three and skip this 2025 Dracula by Luc Besson. It’s a real shame, but I cannot recommend that you pay to watch this one. Wait until it’s out on some streaming platform you already subscribe to, if you’re curious about it. Finally, the runtime over two hours doesn’t help.

Continue reading our Dracula: A Love Tale movie review below. Find it in theaters on February 6, 2026.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula meets Perfume meets The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Yes, those are the three movies this new Luc Besson Dracula film is a strange hybrid of. And yes, I will get back to how and why, but let me first cover what this 2025 movie is officially about.

We meet the 15th-century prince (Caleb Landry Jones) head-over-heels in love with his wife (Zoë Bleu), and then she is murdered, which results in him renouncing God. In fact, he goes even further and damns heaven itself. As a result, he is cursed with eternal life and reborn as Dracula. So, now he is an immortal vampire who travels the globe to figure out how to get his lost love back from death.

Many centuries later, things are suddenly looking up, but then a relentless priest (Christoph Waltz) gets in the way.

A “fresh take on” Dracula?!

With this “fresh take on” (not my words, but those of PR material) Dracula, we get the “untold love story of the infamous vampire”. However, it isn’t untold at all, as this was the plot of Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1992. Also, in this new Luc Besson version, Dracula uses a perfect perfume, made in Florence, to attract people. This is the plot of the 2006 movie Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

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The story of Perfume from the 2018 Netflix series >

Finally, Luc Besson’s Dracula has gargoyles that look a lot like those from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And yes, I am referring to the Disney animated feature film from 1996. And no, the gargoyles are not scary in any way. In fact, one of them in particular reminded me more of a creature from Gremlins.

Personally, I would rather rewatch Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) over and over again than ever watch this Luc Besson movie again. Of course, those other three movies are also absolute masterpieces in their own right, so why wouldn’t I want to watch them again?!

Did the cast know what they were getting into?

I cannot imagine anyone who has watched Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula will watch Luc Besson’s Dracula: A Love Tale, and not be a little confused that it’s not listed as a remake. Well, apart from also adding those elements from other movies, obviously.

Also, I really enjoyed seeing Caleb Landry Jones in movies like Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral, and even Luc Besson’s Dogman (2023), but not in this one. It seems like Caleb Landry Jones has been asked to portray Gary Oldman’s version of the character from the 1992 movie.

It’s strange, and everything from the visuals to the mannerisms will be eerily familiar to fans of that 1992 movie. And yes, I am a fan of that movie, so I know it quite well.

Overall, the actors in the cast of this 2025 Dracula movie do what they can, but most seem lost. The only two exceptions, for me, were the van Helsing-like priest played by Christoph Waltz (Frankenstein) and the Lucy-like character, now called “Maria”, portrayed by Matilda De Angelis (The Undoing).

Watch Dracula: A Love Tale in theaters (or don’t)

As mentioned many times, Dracula is the work of director Luc Besson, who also wrote the script for this movie. However, with the extremely heavy “influences” (which I would say look more like plagiarism) from other iconic movies, he should share writing credits with quite a few others.

Also, don’t even get me started on how much of the movie looks like a (bad!) studio recording on a subpar soundstage with cheap backgrounds and costumes that vary a lot in quality. Some look good, most look okay, but other costumes just look cheap. With this director and cast, there should be money for a proper set and costume department.

Unless the desired aesthetic was “shabby chic,” because in that case, they nailed it.

If you’re in the mood for a movie about the iconic Dracula, then I highly recommend skipping this one and opting for the 1992 movie instead. Also, you could check out the Netflix-BBC miniseries or go old school with Nosferatu. Of course, if you’re just looking for a good vampire story, there’s always Interview with the Vampire – both the movie and series, which has a new season coming out later this year.

Dracula: A Love Tale is out in theaters on February 6, 2026, but I cannot recommend paying to watch it. Just wait until it’s out on streaming.

Details

Director: Luc Besson
Script: Luc Besson
Cast: Caleb Landry Jones, Christoph Waltz, Zoë Bleu, Matilda De Angelis, Ewens Abid, David Shields, Guillaume de Tonquédec