Abraham’s Boys (2025)
Directed by: Natasha Kermani
Premise: Based on the short story by Joe Hill. In this sequel to Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Titus Welliver) and Mina Harker (Jocelin Donahue) have married and relocated to early twentieth century California. Their sons piece together Van Helsing’s work.
What Works: There have been literally hundreds of adaptations and interpretations of Dracula. Abraham’s Boys is distinguished in that genre with its unique take on the material. Van Helsing is traditionally the hero in Dracula stories. The character has become an archetype in supernatural horror as the expert who explains the nature of the evil and leads the heroes in their fight against it. Abraham’s Boys presents a very different Van Helsing. He’s an imposing figure whose violence and harshness might be a rational reaction to the threat they face or Van Helsing himself might be a villain. After so many Dracula films taking the threat of vampirism seriously and accepting Van Helsing’s heroism without question, the filmmakers are able to coast on our expectations. The sons of Abraham and Mina must determine the truth and there are some effective moments between the boys played by Brady Hepner and Judah Mackey. They are credible as brothers and their relationship adds a lot of credibility to the movie. Abraham’s Boys is beautifully shot. It uses the landscape and natural lighting especially well. The western setting contrasts with the traditional Gothic locations of most Dracula movies and the stillness is sometimes creepy.
What Doesn’t: Despite only running eighty-nine minutes, Abraham’s Boys feels padded and drawn out. After an effective opening, the film goes dramatically flat. There’s little tension or sense of rising conflict. Nothing of significance occurs for a long time and even when things start to shift in the Van Helsing household it isn’t compelling. This is not a very scary picture. Abraham’s Boys is more of a psychological story and a family drama. The boys must determine if their father is a hero or a delusional murderer and abuser. The filmmakers don’t do a good job dramatizing that mystery. Titus Welliver’s performance has some shades of nuance but the story doesn’t give him or the other actors the material to draw out the ambiguity. For some reason the filmmakers present Abraham’s Boys in a 4:3 aspect radio. This framing choice is not effective. It may be intended to create a claustrophobic screen space but that’s not successful and instead the aspect ratio becomes distracting especially as there isn’t much happening in the movie.
Bottom Line: Abraham’s Boys fails an interesting idea. There are some good moments in here but as a whole the film is not frightening or exciting enough. Abraham’s Boys might have worked better as a short than as a feature film.
Episode: #1057 (July 20, 2025)