Nosferatu is out now in theaters, bringing The Witch director Robert Eggers’ take on the classic vampire tale to the big screen. Bill Skarsgård plays the titular Count, alongside Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter, the young woman haunted by the centuries-old demon. Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, and Emma Corrin also star in Eggers’ follow-up to 2022’s The Northman, a project that’s been a decade in the making.
If you’ve got any questions about the Nosferatu ending, we get into everything you need to know below, but be warned: there are major Nosferatu spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution if you don’t want to know what happens.
Nosferatu ending explained
After Count Orlok arrives in Germany from Transylvania, he kills Anna and her two young daughters and a plague sweeps across the city, and a plan is set in motion to take him down. Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz says they need to destroy Orlok’s coffin so that he has nowhere to return to at sunrise, while Thomas says he’ll put an iron stake through the count’s chest.
After Anna’s funeral, Harding succumbs to the plague and dies on top of his late wife’s corpse in their mausoleum. Thomas, Ellen, the professor, and Dr. Siever find the bodies and burn them.
Thomas, the professor, and Dr. Siever take Ellen home and then head to Orlok’s castle. In the chapel, they find the sarcophagus and drive an iron stake into the body inside – except it isn’t Orlok, it’s Herr Knock, Thomas’ boss and Orlok’s minion, who’s there instead as a decoy. He tells the group that Orlok has gone to Ellen, and the professor kills him.
Thomas realizes that the professor knew Orlok wouldn’t be there all along. Angry, he rushes back to Ellen as the professor sets fire to the chapel.
Meanwhile, Ellen is waiting for Orlok in her bedroom. She says she is willing to receive him, and he says that means “the covenant is fulfilled” and “the oath is repledged” – in short, she has consented for him to drink her blood. They kiss, and Orlok undresses her to start drinking from her chest. Distracted and in a frenzy, Orlok doesn’t notice when dawn begins to break. When he realizes what’s happened, his eyes begin to bleed, and he dies on top of Ellen.
Thomas, Dr. Siever, and the professor arrive just as Ellen also dies from loss of blood. As the sun rises over the city, the professor proclaims that her sacrifice has broken the curse and ended the plague, and the movie ends.
What happens to Count Orlok? How is he defeated?
After speaking to the professor, Ellen realizes that she’s the only one who can defeat Count Orlok. She has to willingly give herself up to him and allow him to drink her blood, as she’s the only one with enough power over him to distract him. Physical force and violence aren’t enough – he can only be taken down by desire.
What happens to Ellen? Does she die?
After Ellen chooses to sacrifice herself to save the city and allows Count Orlok to feed from her heart, repledging the bond with him that she made in her youth, she succumbs to her blood loss and dies just as Thomas arrives, too late to save her.
Is Nosferatu a remake?
Nosferatu is a remake of the German movie of the same name, released in 1922. That film was based on Dracula, the novel by Bram Stoker, but the names of the characters were changed: Count Dracula became Count Orlok, Mina and Jonathan Harker became Ellen and Thomas Hutter, and Renfield became Knock.
Nosferatu is out now in US theaters and arrives in UK cinemas on January 1, 2025. For more, check out our Nosferatu review and our guide to the other best upcoming movies to add to your watchlist.