Renfield is an assistant to a serial killer.
The movie, "Renfield" focuses on world-famous Conde Dracula’s assistant Robert Montague Renfield, whom Nicholas Hoult plays. Dracula gives Renfield part of his power to be his assistant and brings Dracula “meals.”
The power Renfield has is like Dracula’s. Dracula feeds off people’s life force through blood, and Renfield eats bugs, gaining their life force, to gain similar strength and power.
The movie shows the point of perspective through Renfield’s eyes and describes his relationship with Dracula as toxic. It portrays Dracula, whom Nicolas Cage plays, as a narcissist who uses Renfield to do his bidding without worrying about Renfield’s feelings. This causes Renfield to have low self-esteem and rely on Dracula for attention and friendship.
Renfield tries to feed Dracula cruel people who have done harm to people in his support group. Dracula doesn’t like this and demands that Renfield bring him people who are pure, which taste better, such as nuns. When Renfield was killing impure people, he crossed a crime boss. Renfield killed his men and scared the son of the mob boss, Teddy Lobo.
Ben Schwartz is a comedian with an improv Netflix show called "Middleditch and Schwartz." He portrayed Teddy Lobo becoming a villain, who is the heir to the crime boss Bellafrancesca Lobo. He has been in many other shows and movies before, but this movie demonstrated his range as an actor.
One part of this movie needed to show how Dracula turned Renfield into a familiar, a vampire's servant. The movie stated that it happened but never went into the details of how a familiar is made. The viewers needed to know that information to learn more about the ending.
The movie added a love interest with Rebecca Quincy, whom Awkwafina portrays, a traffic cop at the New Orleans Police Department. Her interest in Renfield blossoms, and they try to take down the crime boss who murdered Quincy’s father.
Renfield's character had some changes from the original book. The book began with Renfield eating flies and wanting to eat a cat to feed off of their life force. In the movie, he eats whatever bug is near.
Although this movie is like its own, it is a sequel to the 1931 "Dracula" movie. The movie came out more than 90 years ago, and "Renfield" is one of the most extended wait times for a sequel.