Bravo also to Robert Eggers for probably the least bad depiction of Transylvania in Western vampire cinematic history:
1. Having actual Romanian actors doing the dialogue in Romanian. You’d think this is a low bar to clear but nope.
2. High quality costume design that looks pretty accurate to 19th century Romanian and Roma peasantry, even down to specific braided hairstyles from the Transylvanian region.
3. Depiction of Roma people but refrains from having them as some typical Hollywood exoticizing role like a magical fortune teller etc. They’re in like half a scene, just chilling and playing music in front of an inn.
4. Use of the word “strigoi” which are actual spirits in Romanian folklore, unlike the term “vampire” which didn’t exist in Romania.
5. Sorry to the Nosferatu moustache haters, but a Romanian nobleman would have had that exact facial hair.
6. Depiction of religion (nuns, churches) that actually looks like Eastern Orthodoxy and not some vaguely spooky goth Christianity.
On point 2, if you’re not familiar with his earlier work, the director commentary on his debut film The Witch is hilarious. Most of it is him complaining about the historical inaccuracies he had to leave in for budget or practical reasons.
IIRC, he goes ‘our goats are incorrect’ and then elaborates that the period accurate goat breed doesn’t exist anymore, the closest simulacra is only raised on a single farm in New Zealand, and they didn’t have the budget to get one.
The level of attention to detail that gets regionally accurate hair braids is something of a mark of his work, and his films are better for it.