One of the best things about Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu is also its most frustrating. The director slowly reveals the full look of Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok throughout the film—which adds to the horror of it all, sure! But I left Eggers’s take on the classic Dracula story wanting a good, long look at Skarsgård’s transformation, mustache included.
What I’m saying is that I needed a damn pause button. So when is Nosferatu streaming?
Well, Eggers’s Nosferatu—which also stars Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, and Willem Dafoe—hit theaters on Christmas Day. If you’re the kind of person who can watch horror films only at home, you’re out of luck (for now). Nosferatu racked up $11.5 million on Christmas Day alone, which makes it the second-highest-grossing R-rated film to open on the holiday. (Some trivia for you cinephiles: The first is 2012’s Django Unchained.)
You’ll have to wait a bit longer for Nosferatu to hit streaming platforms. The film is distributed by Focus Features, which falls under the NBCUniversal umbrella. The best point of reference for Nosferatu is Focus Features’ other awards-season player this year: Conclave. The Ralph Fiennes–led papal thriller debuted on October 25, made its way to video-on-demand services on November 26, and landed on Peacock on December 13. That means you can likely buy or rent Nosferatu on Prime Video, Apple TV, and more in late January, then stream it on Peacock in early February.
In the meantime, F.W. Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, is always begging for a rewatch—or even a first viewing, if you haven’t seen it yet. You can stream it for free on YouTube. Trust me when I say it’ll make quite a few shots in Eggers’s Nosferatu that much more impressive to you.
