Warning: spoilers for Renfield are in play. If you haven’t seen Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult’s reign of bloody terror yet, you’ve been warned.
Does any vampire story ever truly have a happy ending? Director Chris McKay’s Renfield seems to think it can happen, playing around with a finale that’s supposed to leave Nicholas Hoult’s beleaguered familiar in a better spot than we found him. But, if you pay attention to exactly what happens in the final moments of this 2023 new movie release, and the implications it could have, then the road to bloody hell was paved with some adorably good, if not misguided, intentions.
Last call for those avoiding spoilers, as we’re about to sink our teeth into Renfield’s ending, and how this supposedly sunny conclusion could spell doom. Don't worry, there are still plenty of awesome related materials to read without worries of ruining this ending. If you want to dive into what the future could look like, should the movie lead to some sequel talks, then you're in the right place.
Renfield’s Supposedly Happy Ending
As one would expect in Universal’s latest creature feature, Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) is defeated by Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) in a winner-take-all showdown. Asserting himself with his supernatural boss, Renfield not only stomps his face in, but makes sure to enlist Rebecca (Awkwafina), the traffic cop of his dreams, to dispose of the remains.
Knowing Dracula’s history of resurfacing after even some of the worst possible deaths, like his sunlight roast in a first-act flashback that’s featured in the film’s marketing campaign, the happy couple gets creative. Reducing Drac’s remains into a size small enough that he could be mixed and frozen into ice cube trays, Renfield and Rebecca dump those cubes down the drain.
That’s not all though, as we're given one last unnerving twist that’s disguised as a happy ending. Remember how Renfield’s support group was wiped out by Count Dracula, as vengeance for trying to leave his service? Well, Renfield and Rebecca resurrected them all through the power of Dracula Blood; which, when you think about, it totally locks in Renfield’s “splatstick” genre cred. It also leaves the door open for the first upbeat finale tinged with existential dread since Scott Lang’s mini-breakdown at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Why Renfield’s Finale Isn’t As Happy As You’d Think
Everybody loves the “Everybody Lives!” ending, right? It’s cheery, it’s peppy, and it makes the audience feel glad to be alive. That’s not exactly what Renfield is selling here, which admittedly is dependent on whether or not a sequel ever happens. You see, the happiness of everyone’s resurrection is kind of short lived, when you take into account that it was all possible through the use of Dracula Blood.
If you leave the story at its current conclusion, taken totally at face value, it could be perceived as a happy ending. However, sequel baiting and vampire lore would dictate that this is merely the beginning of how a follow up could resurrect the Count’s gigantic evil plot for world domination.
Even in the absence of Dracula, there’s a good chance that everyone resurrected might die yet again, since they could either turn into familiars, or worse: individual vampires. In a sense, Renfield may have inadvertently fulfilled the aspirations of his currently dead boss. Which now means that the door is left open for some serious consequences.
Count Dracula’s Evil Plot For World Domination
As we saw, Count Dracula’s ambitions have expanded into a huge power play to rule over humanity. He’s tired with penny ante feedings, and he’s ready to raise an army that’ll help him live out his aspirations; hence his new partnership with the Lobos crime family.
Even going so far as making Teddy Lobos (Ben Schwartz) his new familiar, the Count embraced organized crime as a shortcut to taking over the world. If only he'd thought up this scheme a couple of decades earlier, Dracula could have commandeered the mob in its heyday, and with a much more willing Renfield. Alas, while he's certainly down, our big bad isn't totally out.
A Renfield follow-up would probably see that plot's resurgence, especially since Teddy’s mother/head of the Lobos crime family, Ella (Shohreh Aghdashloo), is still very much alive. Yes, she’s in police custody during the finale, but that can easily be solved. Once out of prison, Ella could prove instrumental to bringing Count Dracula’s plot back for another round. The heroes have wronged both a powerful supernatural entity, and an entire criminal organization, so this meeting of the minds would only be more determined to try again.
How Count Dracula’s Evil Plot Could Return In A Sequel
Renfield’s big flashback showed us a bedrock truth that applies to most horror villains: Dracula never stays dead. Renfield acknowledges this as he and Rebecca dispose of the Count’s remains in a way that should slow his eventual resurrection. When/if he comes back, you can bet that the mythic vampire legend will return to his plans to take over humanity.
Thanks to the twist of events, a potential dark army of familiars will now be ready to serve Dracula’s evil schemes. For all we know, Teddy Lobo survived his explosively bloody defeat, and will act as the connection between this new army and his familial criminal connections. Nothing like organized crime and a bunch of resurrected support group members with codependency issues to spell the final doom of society.
At the moment, the jury’s still out about whether or not Renfield will actually see another entry in its story. But, who doesn’t want to see more of this version of Dracula, whether it’s in Nic Cage’s proposed solo movie or a straightforward sequel? While it doesn’t feel like the movie is intentionally teasing future adventures, the path to a hypothetical follow-up has already been laid down.
All that needs to happen is for the world at large to embrace Renfield and Dracula’s splatstick shenanigans, and the blood may flow again. Whether or not that occurs will depend on what happens this weekend, as Renfield has now emerged from its slumber, and is haunting a theater near you.
