Well, I'll 100% agree that the film is a masterpiece of aesthetics. It's not just that it looks great (it does) but that the visuals really give us a sense of place, a sense of atmosphere, a sense of mood, and a sense of time. We see the cold, the plague, the oppressive dark that thematically lock us into the movie's intentions and ideas. This is great visual storytelling at a level we don't often get. It's sublime.
However, I disagree on points with Lily Rose-Depp. I did find empathy with the character and I definitely wanted to follow her story. I'm not going to gush over her - she doesn't have the magnetic x-factor that some people have. So, I know what you mean. She doesn't seem to have that charisma overload that some movie stars have.
Nevertheless, I found her performance compelling. I think she does a fantastic job of embodying Ellen and she takes some really admirable risks as an actor. Some of the work she does while under possessed/trance states are very unsettling and she skirts around melodrama. I consider this to be taking big risks and making bold choices as an actor. I'm so sick of mumblecore. I'm so bored by people with placid expressions pretending that minimalism is always better. Sometimes it's not. We get plenty of subtlety in the performances in Nosferatu, but also plenty of grand, theatrical moments, and these dynamics work really well.
On the strength of her performance, I think Lily-Rose Depp did a great job and was well-cast. I didn't need A-list looks or a supermodel's mystique to draw me in. While I think you have a good point - she doesn't have that je ne sais quois that creates intrigue-on-sight - I also think that, for me at least, she was well-suited to the part and her performance was fantastic - enough to work through any other deficits she might have had.
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