Romanian auteur Radu Jude’s latest film, ‘Dracula’, premiered on August 10, 2025, at the Locarno Film Festival, starring Ilinca Manolache, Alina Serban, Serban Pavlu, and Eszter Tompa.
Set in modern-day Transylvania, this momentous vampire satire is unlike any adaptation before it—because it’s partially written by generative AI.
Jude, known for provocative works like ‘Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World’, has once again pushed boundaries. “It’s not just a film—it’s a three-hour joke,” he said in an interview, “conflating artificial intelligence with Vlad the Impaler—two undead bloodsuckers feeding on humanity.”
Cast of ‘Dracula’: A Riotous Ensemble in Transylvania
The cast of ‘Dracula’ is a mix of Romanian stage veterans and rising stars. Ilinca Manolache plays Tanta, a gauche young vampire navigating labor strikes and existential dread.
Alina Serban and Serban Pavlu bring gritty realism to the absurdist plot, while Eszter Tompa adds a surreal edge.
The film’s maximalist style—jumping between genres, timelines, and tones—has been described by critics as “gloriously stupid” and “way too many movies at once.” Yet it’s precisely this chaos that makes it a meaningful experiment in AI-assisted storytelling.
Plot of ‘Dracula’: AI, Myth, and Satire Collide
‘Dracula’ isn’t your typical bloodsucker tale. It reimagines the vampire myth through the lens of Romanian labor history, digital surveillance, and postmodern absurdity. The narrative structure itself was partially generated by AI, making it the first major film to use artificial intelligence not just for effects, but for story logic.
One scene adapts a 1930s Romanian vampire novella, while another reuses footage from classic horror films. The result? A cinematic collage that mocks both AI and myth-making. “It’s a satire of everything—capitalism, cinema, even itself,” Jude quipped.
Radu Jude’s otherwise awesome sounding Dracula movie using generative A.I. raises a question for me: if given the opportunity, would Jean-Luc Godard have used gen A.I., even if only for one film? (It’s purely speculative, but I’m leaning toward yes.) https://t.co/NLx7bUbM9o
— Gentleman Doofus (@GentleDoofus) August 10, 2025
Box Office Predictions: Will ‘Dracula’ Bite or Bomb?
While mainstream audiences may find ‘Dracula’ baffling, its festival buzz and AI novelty could attract niche cinephiles and tech-curious viewers. Box office analysts predict modest international earnings, with strong performance in Europe and academic circles.
Its real impact may be cultural: sparking debate on how far AI can—or should—go in creative industries.
A Vampire Film That Sucks (In a Good Way)
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