Movie Review - The last Voyage of the Demeter

Director: André Øvredal
Genre: Horror/ Fantasy
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Corey Hawkins, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian, Aisling Franciosi, Chris Walley, Jon Jon Briones, Woody Norman, Stefan Kapicic, Martin Furulund
 
Description: A crew sailing from Varna, Bulgaria by the Black Sea to England find that they are carrying very dangerous cargo.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 50: A MOVIE RELEASED IN 2023
 
Review: The thing with prequels is, that you know how it will end, because you already know the story that follows. “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is something of a prequel, as it is a chapter somewhere in the book “Dracula”. Again, there is never any doubt about how this will end, but the journey to that end is intriguing.

The ship Demeter has been commissioned to sail some large crates to London, that will take at least a week. They don’t know for who it is, but they have been promised a large bonus if they delivery arrives faster than usual. But then strange things begin to happen on board.

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a literary horror classic, there is a little bit about how Dracula managed to move himself from Transylvania to England: by boat. And by the time the ship arrives, there is no crew in sight. So The Last Voyage of the Demeter” offers no mystery.

For the screenplay, two characters have been invented that do not interfere with the source material. The main character is Clemens, a black man who graduated from Cambridge University, but cannot get a job because of the color of his skin. Well-acted by Corey Hawkins.

The other is Anna, a girl who appeared to be in one of the crates and has all sorts of strange-looking wounds on her body. One wants to throw her overboard, but Clemens heals her and becomes her protector.

The story still has enough suspense, even with knowing where it will eventually end. What happened to the crew, in detail, we don’t know. And the film is at times mildly scary, it’s very doable if you’re a scaredy-cat . The cinematography is amazing. Since the entire film takes place on a ship, you have little to work with. The set is beautifully designed and built, and the camera captures this perfectly. The way they work with light and shadow is very well done.

I did enjoy the film, putting focus on this part of the well-known story. I was invested, because I find Dracula one of the most interesting literary characters in history. They way everything was filmed was really impressive, but the characters, besides Clemens, are all a bit flat.

Rating: 3,5/ 5