“A crew sailing from Varna (Bulgaria) by the Black Sea to England find that they are carrying very dangerous cargo.” – IMDb
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
Starring
Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham
Directed by
André Øvredal
Written by
Bragi F. Schut, Zak Olkewicz, Bram Stoker
Box Office:
$21.8M Worldwide (Considered a Box Office “Bomb” when compared to its $45M budget)
Storyline
Based on one chapter (the Captain’s Log portion) of Bram Stroker’s 1897 novel Dracula, the film shows the story of the ship Demeter. It begins with a ship’s journey from Transylvania to London to deliver a cargo of 50 unmarked wooden crates. Slowly, things begin to take a turn for the worse as they find that there is another entity on their ship- Dracula. The crew members then have to fight for their survival. Do they continue their journey and ultimately deliver Dracula to the citizens of London? Or, do they battle the evil on board?
Thoughts
The storyline itself was a neat concept. After so much time, it’s hard to go into a film such as this one thinking that you’ll see anything new. The fact that it was almost entirely set on a ship made it different from the typical vampire movie we’re accustomed to seeing. Being in the middle of the ocean makes it even more clear that you have nowhere to run or even hide, which makes it even more terrifying.
From attempted blood transfusions to setting traps, the crew seems to exhaust all possible solutions. I do not wish to give the ending away, but there are ways for this to eventually have a sequel. Does it need a sequel? No. Would I watch it? Yes; if Øvredal directs it or at least has some creative control. While it wasn’t terrible, I wasn’t a massive fan of his film, The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Demeter has improved his “director rating” in my books.
The actors do a great job, especially Woody Norman. Maybe it’s due to me having a soft spot for kids in films in general, but either way- I think he was perfect for this role.
I also appreciated how they didn’t make Dracula instantly known. We were left to use our imaginations when it came to what he looked like for quite some time; it helped to build a certain amount of suspense. We’ve seen so many versions of Dracula’s appearance over the years. I am sure there is a lot of pressure to stay true to the book as much as possible while also being original. In this regard, I wasn’t disappointed. It wasn’t “overdone” but it was still effective.
Overall
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (or “Dracula On A Boat” as social media users call it), was a fun, interesting watch as I didn’t know entirely what to expect. There was one scene that made me cry my eyes out, which I wasn’t expecting. The same scene is quite crucial for the second half of the film, so I understand it was necessary. This still doesn’t mean that it was easy to watch.
I’ll be frank- films based on vampires/vampire-adjacent aren’t exactly my cup of tea. While I enjoy several of them (Van Helsing, From Dusk Til Dawn, Underworld, Blade, etc) I don’t often rush to watch them. With this being said, I can appreciate films based on books, no matter how loosely, and will give anything a shot at least once.
I used to have a rule that I wouldn’t watch film or TV adaptations until I read the book that inspired the onscreen version in question. (I’ve stopped myself from watching All The Light We Cannot See about a hundred times in the past month alone; I’m currently reading the book.) However, I don’t see myself reading 418 pages on Dracula any time soon.
Watched this a couple weeks ago and loved it.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it too!