Directed by Chris McKay from a screenplay by Ryan Ridley and Robert Kirkman, Renfield starts off strong before deteriorating in quality. Its premise, primarily having to do with leaving a codependent relationship, is great on the surface, but the decision to focus on one too many plots derails the film’s potential and initial conceit. There is still some fun to be had, and Renfield is goofy, with fantastic action sequences and a few comedic beats that land, but it could have also been so much more.
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Robert Montague Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) has been Count Dracula’s (Nicolas Cage) familiar for a century, but he’s grown tired of being at the beck and call of his boss, cleaning up his messes, and finding him people to feed on. After nearly being killed by hunters, Renfield moves with Dracula to New Orleans, where the familiar has joined a support group for those struggling to leave their codependent relationships behind. In a bid to help the members of the support group, Renfield goes after one of their toxic partners to feed to Dracula, but gets caught in the middle of the Lobo family’s (Ben Schwartz and Shohreh Aghdashloo) criminal activities and traffic cop Rebecca Quincy’s (Awkwafina) vendetta to stop them.

Related: Nicolas Cage & Nicholas Hoult Interview: Renfield

Shohreh Aghdashloo and Ben Schwartz in Renfield

Renfield is occasionally entertaining. There are a few good laughs to be had, especially when it comes to the absurdity of it all. Hoult fully leans into the sad boy act with Renfield, who is lost and frustrated and made to feel like a victim of Dracula’s. There’s hope in his eyes, but he’s timid when it comes to standing up to his boss, and Hoult makes the most out of Renfield’s defeatist attitude and awkward sense of humor. On the other hand, Cage is having a blast playing Dracula, chewing up scenery and paying homage to Bela Lugosi’s iteration of the character while still making it his own. Schwartz and Aghdashloo are also having a great time with their characters, and they’re just as engaging as Hoult and Cage are in their scenes. Awkwafina has the unfortunate task of being the only straight-laced character, and the performance is affected because she doesn’t get to be as outrageous or silly as the rest of the cast.

That said, Renfield would have worked far better if Ridley and Kirkman had cut the cop and crime boss plots altogether. It’s too convoluted and messy, shoehorned into the film while undermining the primary story being told. Some of the dialogue — weak and tacky as it is — doesn’t help matters, and Renfield having to deal with the additional plots grows tedious the longer the film goes on. At a little over 90 minutes long, that shouldn’t be the case, but tighter writing and focus on Renfield and Dracula’s relationship would have elevated the film and made it far more appealing.

Nicholas Hoult and Awkwafina in Renfield

Renfield’s action sequences are excellent, though. When the titular character gets going, the fights get quite bloody, with limbs flying everywhere (which are employed with plenty of imagination by Renfield). The fight choreography is especially fabulous and, set against eye-popping and colorful cinematography and set design, stands out in an otherwise mediocre film. When Renfield isn’t bogged down by the unnecessary subplots, which take away from its central premise, it can be very entertaining and genuinely funny, especially with the cast doing the most with the limited script. Audiences will laugh because the film can be so over-the-top, but it won’t be as often as one might expect.

For all its missed opportunities, Renfield still has its charms. Unfortunately, the film has too much going on and is incapable of balancing them all. Hoult and Cage are excellent, doing their best to uplift the film, but their performances aren’t enough to boost Renfield’s potential. The film isn’t awful, but aggressively average. It could have been so much better if it’d leaned all the way into its goofy side. The hilarious premise is right there and the main characters work well within its main plot, but it’s underutilized to make room for storylines that aren’t as fulfilling or fun, driving down the entertainment factor.

Renfield releases in theaters Friday, April 14. The film is 93 minutes long and rated R for bloody violence, some gore, language throughout and some drug use.

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