Nosferatu continues Robert Eggers' Rotten Tomatoes trend and perfectly explains why it keeps happening

WARNING: Major spoilers for Nosferatu aheadFollowing its premiere, Robert Eggers' highly anticipated horror film Nosferatus was met with critical acclaim and a box office return far exceeding initial projections, but still remained a Rotten tomatoes tendency towards Robert Eggers films. Starring Bill Skarsgård as the nefarious Count Orlok, Nosferatus is a remake of the 1922 German Expressionist silent film from which the character originates. Initial reviews for Nosferatus were stellar, and as more critics and viewers registered their opinions, the high Rotten Tomatoes scores held steady.

Before NosferatusEach of Robert Eggers' films has achieved a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of 90% or higher, indicating that at least 90% of critics rated the film as "fresh". To put it simply, the Tomatometer score is the percentage of critics who gave the film a positive review. While Nosferatus may fall short of the 90% mark, it's around 86% after its first five days in theaters. The fourth film in the rising author's filmography, Nosferatus in fact, it broke a record for Robert Eggers when it came to audience reception.

Robert Eggers Audience Scores Are Much Lower Than Critic Scores

Each of Eggers' four feature films has excellent critic scores but average audience scores

As incredible as Robert Eggers' Tomatometer scores were, his Popcornmeter scores (a measure of the percentage of audience critics who record positive reviews) were average at best. Despite all four of his films scoring 86% or higher from critics, Nosferatus so far it has achieved the highest audience score, with just 75%. The disparity is stark in two examples, such as the difference between critic scores and audience scores for two of his films (The Witch and The Northman) is greater than 25%.

While it's not uncommon for there to be some disparity between critics and audience scores, it usually leans in the opposite direction. Often, critics will treat a popcorn movie or a blockbuster with a more discerning and disparaging eyewhile moviegoers looking for entertainment at the cinema will embrace a film. For example, Sony's Marvel movie Poison was trashed by critics and holds a Tomatometer score of 30%, while the Popcornmeter score is 80%. This makes Robert Eggers' films somewhat enigmatic, but Nosferatus in fact, it provides a lot of evidence as to why there is a disparity.

Robert Eggers' Methodical Filmmaking Requires Patience

His attention to detail inherently makes his films slow

Investigating the Rotten Tomatoes reviews of Eggers' films, one of the common complaints from audiences is that Eggers' films are slow and occasionally the word “boring” is used. In reality, Eggers' films take a while to develop, but that's just a byproduct of his filmmaking style. Eggers is famous for his meticulous attention to detailboth in creating the historical setting in which their stories take place, and in establishing their characters.

Nosferatus perfectly demonstrates that attention to detailparticularly with regard to character development. To be clear, the detail Eggers puts into creating a dilapidated Transylvanian castle or an 1830s German port town is mind-blowing, but the slow burn he puts into his characters is on another level. It takes more than half the film to fully understand that Lily-Rose Depp's Ellen Hutter is driven by guilt over having summoned Count Orlok in the past, but it's a key aspect to fully understanding her self-sacrifice at the end of the film.

Eggers' folk horror stories are difficult for a wide audience to identify with

Each film is packed with foreign languages ​​and specific regional knowledge

Each of Eggers' films (even some elements of the more action-adventure film) The Northman) falls into the subgenre of folk horror, which is defined by the use of folk stories and ancient traditions to inspire dread. The reason why lies how heavily Eggers uses regional elements like period-specific language and aestheticscostumes and behavior. Because of this, modern audiences may have difficulty fully connecting with or even understanding all of the details necessary to fully digest each film. Films can be so far removed from modern sensibilities that it becomes difficult to connect them from an entertainment standpoint.

One of Count Orlok's defining characteristics is how different he is from the traditional Dracula., and Eggers took his vampire even further from Bram Stoker's baseline drawing on traditional Eastern European folklore. Elements such as Count Orlok's mustache, his corpse-like body and his traditional Transylvanian nobleman's robes are the results of Eggers' attempt to recreate a realistic vampire based on folklore. However, this means that Count Orlok goes against most of the audience's expectations from the start.

Obscured advertising means the audience doesn't always know what they're getting

Eggers' films are very conservative in title and promotion

Nosferatus is the highest-profile film Eggers has produced, given its Christmas Day release date, high budget, and famous cast. His previous three films were much more conservative in their promotion and obscured how much of the film was revealed. Even their titles reveal practically nothing about the films' plot.which can lead to misplaced expectations among viewers. When a film doesn't meet your expectations, it's easy to see how it would register as a negative experience for the average moviegoing audience, resulting in a bad review.

Nosferatus was interpreted by many as a traditional vampire film coming to the cinema, which may have left them confused about some of the film's most important elements. The gothic horror film is driven by psychic connections, dream-walking nightmare sequences, and overt sexual overtones and imagery, which is a far cry from the traditional vampire fare that has been in theaters in recent years.

Eggers' films are destined to be cult classics

Low audience scores and box office totals obscure the films' excellence

Eggers' audience scores were much lower than critic scores upon its release, and the box office followed for each of his last two films. However, these elements have nothing to do with the quality of the films and as a result, Eggers' films are destined to become cult classics. The streaming revolution has led to films and TV shows being rediscovered by audiences months or years after their initial release, and Eggers' films seem like great candidates for that. Eggers already has a dedicated fan base and it will only grow with time.

Nosferatus Kind of breaks the mold for Eggers with how much initial success and recognition it generated in just its first week in theaters. However, it may still be destined for cult classic status given how distinctly different it is from traditional horror and traditional vampire films. Once Nosferatus arrives on streaming platforms, it has a good chance of gaining momentum and developing the status of a cult classic.