The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)

Film and Plot Synopsis

A terrifying new addition to the Dracula legend, based on a single chilling chapter from Bram Stoker’s classic novel, The Last Voyage of the Demeter chronicles the doomed journey of a merchant ship ferrying fifty mysterious wooden crates from Carpathia to London. As they set sail, the crew soon discover they are not alone on board: at night they are stalked by a hidden passenger whose monstrous thirst for blood turns the trip into a harrowing nightmare of tension, terror, and unfathomable evil. (Courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ Movie Summary

The film then cuts to a month prior in Varna, Bulgaria. The Demeter is in port and is loading cargo in preparation for a journey to London. The mysterious shipment is transported by locals from Romania and consists of several large wooden crates with unknown contents. The locals from Varnia refuse to load the cargo and insist that they must leave the area before sundown. The Romanian locals hand the quartermaster, Wojchek (David Dastmalchian), and another crew member, Olgaren (Stefan Kapičić), a considerable sum of money before wishing them well and disappearing from the area.

Captain Eliot and his first officer go into town to recruit additional crew. Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a doctor educated at the University of Cambridge, attempts to volunteer for the job, but Wojchek rejects him. Clemens tries to convince them that his medical skills and knowledge of astronomy would make him a valuable asset for the ship. Wojchek still rejects him and hires an older man instead. However, the older man quits the crew after he becomes frightened by a dragon emblem on the side of one of the mysterious crates. He accidentally releases the rope holding the crate which begins to fall. Clemens sees the accident and saves Eliot’s grandson, Toby (Woody Norman), from being crushed by the heavy crate. The departing new hire informs Wojchek that the dragon emblem is a bad omen and leaves. Captain Eliot hires Clemens as a form of gratitude for saving his grandson.

A boat without rats – such a thing is against nature. Joseph (Jon Jon Briones)

After a couple of days at sea, one of the crates is knocked loose by the rough seas and breaks open in the cargo hold. Clemens investigates and finds that the crate is filled with dirt. He also finds a woman (Aisling Franciosi) buried in the dirt who is barely alive. Clemens begins to perform blood transfusions on her using his own blood in an attempt to treat her for what he believes is an infection. That night, Clemens and Olgaren have the duty of the watch and see a mysterious figure through the fog on the deck of the ship. However, they cannot locate the figure when they investigate.

The next night, all the animals in the hold are killed under mysterious circumstances, including Toby’s dog, Huckleberry. The crew begins to fear that there is a rabies outbreak on the ship and throws the carcasses of all the animals overboard. The woman awakens from her coma and informs Clemens that her name is Anna. Anna warns Clemens that she was smuggled onboard by a monster from Transylvania that she was given to as a slave of blood so that he would not need to feed on the ship’s crew. Anna informs Clemens that her town named the monster Dracula (Javier Botet). Anna warns Clemens that Dracula is onboard the ship and reveals several bites on her body. The bites are similar to the ones found on the dead animals.

That night, Dracula begins hunting the crew for their blood. He attacks Olgaren and turns him into a vampiric thrall. As a precaution, the crew tie Olgaren to a table, but he breaks free during the night and attacks Toby. Toby flees and is cornered by Olgaren in the captain’s quarters. While the crew fights Olgaren outside of the captain’s quarters, Dracula sneaks into the room and bites Toby. The crew subdues Olgaren and ties him to a mast. Captain Eliot begins blood transfusions on Toby, but unfortunately, the boy dies. When the sun rises in the east, Olgaren bursts into flames and dies.

The crew prepare Toby for a funeral at sea and wrap the young boy’s body in sailcloth. A despondent Eliot imagines that he sees Toby’s body move and stops the funeral. He unwraps his grandson’s body only to be attacked by a vampiric Toby. The boy bursts into flame due to the sunlight which severely burns Captain Eliot. Clemens manages to push the body overboard into the ocean where it sinks to the bottom of the sea.

The surviving members of the crew decide to sink the ship and drown Dracula before he can reach the shores of London. Captain, Eliot, Wojchek, and a crewmember named Abrams (Chris Walley) are killed by Dracula while trying to implement the plan, leaving only Clemens and Anna alive. Clemens tries to directly confront Dracula, but he is hopelessly overpowered. Anna intervenes to stop the vampire but is bitten again. Clemens rescues Anna by hitting Dracula with an axe, and Anna drops a portion of the mast on the vampire, crushing him. Anna and Clemens jump overboard as they believe that the vampire is dead. They float with some wreckage from the sinking ship. However, the Demeter runs aground before sinking. Dracula pushes the mast off of his body and escapes to freedom.

As the night ends, Anna reveals that she is becoming a vampire and despite Clemens’ transfusions, he only delayed the inevitable. Rather than turning into a monster, Anna floats away from Clemens and allows the rising sun to immolate her as Clemens can only watch in hopelessness. Clemens eventually makes it to shore, although no one is aware that he was a member of the Demeter’s crew. He travels to London where he dines in a local tavern and sketches a portrait of Anna in his notebook. He hears the knocking signal from the Demeter’s crew for “all clear” and realizes that Dracula survived. Clemens sees the vampire dressed as an aristocrat before the laughing Dracula disappears into the night. Clemens attempts to pursue and vows that he will kill Dracula and send him back to Hell.