The story centers on Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), a young woman who forges a psychic link with the vampire Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) through childhood loneliness and ultimately sacrifices herself to defeat him, giving her greater narrative centrality and agency than in prior versions. This shift draws some critical commentary framing it as a 'feminist retelling' or exploration of female desire and Victorian repression, with Eggers noting in interviews that he wanted the film to be Ellen's story from the start and drew from Wuthering Heights for the demon-lover dynamic. However, these elements remain organic to the source material's heroine-focused climax and classic horror tropes of obsession and sacrifice rather than modern activist framing.