Renfield is a movie about a lawyer named Robert Montague Renfield, who goes in search of money to provide for his family and he lands upon a great real estate opportunity, little did he know the house that he had bought was the luxurious dwelling of the king of all vampires the Count Dracula himself, played by the famous Nicholas Cage, Dracula meets Renfield and makes him his servant for eternity by manipulation, Renfield without any option serves his time with his new master for years to come until one day Dracula is hunt by hunters and priests, although Dracula kills all of them almost killing himself in the act due to the sunlight, he asks Renfield to take care of him so that he can regain his full health, Renfield under the curse of Dracula would have become immortal, the curse also lets him get incredible powers upon consumption of bugs and insects. As Renfield tries to help his master regain his strength he goes through a bewildering journey of standing up for himself against the tyrant Dracula.
From the get go of the movie the narration was excellent and the writers have made sure to get the viewers dwell into the story right away without any boring introductions, Cage portrays the evil and menacing side of the Dracula from the get go and his performance sets the perfect mood that the movie is trying to portray. As soon as the movie began I expected Dracula to be a protagonist since he is the famous mythical character everyone knows and loves but as the story progressed he turned out to be an antagonist and as an added twist the whole movie is from the point of view of Renfield who is a mere servant to the great Dracula himself. I was stunned by the fact that even by keeping the assistant to Dracula as the protagonist they have brought about an amazing movie. Renfeild being a human himself would hate bringing in people for Dracula's consumption, as consolation he would bring only people who indulge in vices , which goes against the Dracula's ideals since him being a monster he would rather consume the blood of innocent people hence Cage would reprimand Renfield all the time. Renfield then meets officer Rebecca, Renfield gets inspired her bravery and her attitude to do the right thing, instead of staying a coward even though she is going up against stronger forces.
Even though the genre of the movie says horror, it is a feel good movie, seeing Renfield go through the all the phases of reformation especially him trying to be a hero by doing the right thing even though he works for the devil, gives a certain hope in people's hearts that anyone at any point in their life can change for the better, a lot of times I have heard people say that "I'm too old to change myself" or "What's the point in changing now" even though that transformation could improve their lives by 10 fold To all the people who feel that way Renfield is a must watch, this movie provides you with a different perspective and motivates you to believe in yourself no matter what the situation is, whether you are struggling at office or fighting a noxious vampire. The genre of the movie also includes comedy, Cage has brought in a satisfactory amount of satire even though his role doesn't necessarily require humour, he puts a new face to Count Dracula where a vampire is silly while playing with his food(humans) at the same time drooling to actually feed on them. The added element of integrity in the story provides for the required amount of seriousness which makes this different from any other horror comedy movie like "Scream".
Nicolas Cage has also enacted all the action filled scenes impeccably. There is a lot of blood just praying everywhere and they have cooked all this blood sport with a comedic twist which I am usually not a fan of, since that questions the fact that how can people act so silly after seeing a man's head fly off his body, but this movie didn't make me feel grossed out about the way they have shot the fighting scenes. Amidst all the blood stains there is another cardinal scene which is romance. Renfield seeing Rebecca fighting against evil and standing by what she feels right adds the required amount of romance with a pinch of wholesome garnish which doesn't make the amour too cringy or too boring. This movie follows a very typical plot where a powerless cop tries to fight against the most dangerous mob in the city as a revenge plan for killing her father, if you have watched the movie "22 jump street", there are some scenes where it feels almost nostalgic to that movie, which has some of the most hilarious scenes I have seen.
The highlight of the movie for me is that the vampire here is a monster which represents all things evil, Nicolas Cage in the movie is not some mystical or mythical being but the embodiment of the most vilest of things on this planet, they have showcased this aspect in a splendid way by setting the scene of the movie to the present times and how the changing world has brought about all kinds of distasteful things. Renfield being a monster himself because of the curse realizes that he can change for the better and that there is a life where he can live helping people saving people's lives and using his curse for protecting the weak. He realizes that there is always a chance for change towards good and that everyone in this world gets that opportunity to choose between the good and evil, one should always choose what is right for them and what makes them happy and what makes them satisfied to continue living. There is a famous saying that goes "Not everything is black and white, there is a lot more grey in this world" which this movie depicts excellently. This movie also sheds some light over the importance of point of view, according to Dracula when Renfield tries to get away from their toxic relationship, Dracula holds him against the act of betrayal, even though he isn't wrong about betrayal being a wrong thing at the same time the reason for him betraying Dracula was valid and justified. Hence this springs out the thought in the viewers about who is in the right and who is in the wrong. In the end all that matters is if the person is happy the way he is living it or if he is going to make the right decision to change and get the happiness he deserves.
Along with Cage, Awkwafina did a great job as the cop, I never expected she could perform a semi-protagonist role flawlessly where she acted her role immaculately showcasing the comedic, the dramatic side as well as the ballsy side of the character. In the end intelligence wins over raw power according to the saying "Brain over brawn" both Renfield and Rebecca defeat Dracula using sly big brain moves. The writers of the movie have given it a happy ending, they kill Dracula and then on realizing that his blood can actually bring people back to life, Renfield finds that as his responsibility to resurrect all the people who died supporting him to act on his own and motivated him to be himself and shine through instead of staying in the shadow of his master where all he could feel was darkness. With all the good people back to life, Dracula gone for good and everyone in the movie moving with their peaceful lives, the ending is pleasant and I cant really think of any other better way of ending such a roller coaster of a movie.
