With a title based on Bram Stoker, the author’s name of the 1893 novel Dracula, and a story loosely influenced by Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, Prison Break actor Wentworth Miller (under the pseudonym of Ted Foulke) has created a commendable script for a first-time screenwriter:

India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) and her mother, Evie Stoker (Nicole Kidman) are visited by India’s uncle, Charlie Stoker (Matthew Goode) right after her father, Richard Stoker’s (Dermont Mulroney) funeral. India’s dark suspicions about her mysterious uncle slowly leads to a discovery that she and him share something deeply sinister together.

Yet there are a few little things that Miller has failed to do to for his movie to achieve its full potential — like the screenwriter/actor’s failure to delve deeper into his characters’ individual psychological intricacies, resulting in a rather conventional storyline. The screenplay also lacks the different dimensions for suspense required for an effective psychological thriller, that if it wasn’t for Park Chan-wook, the film’s director, Stoker would teeter on the verge of mediocrity.

Park Chan-wook’s intelligently crafted visuals supply the much needed depth in Stoker’s characters. When closely examined, Stoker’s plot is quite linear, and boringly straightforward. However, the clever intercutting of the scenes buffers the otherwise predictable outcomes in the story. Chan-Wook’s meticulous use of close-ups, dollies and shaky camera movements reveal more about the characters and events than Miller could ever reveal through stingy dialogue and anticipated detours.

The good performance of the actors provides the foundation of Stoker’s charm. Nicole Kidman takes the backseat in this movie, but her character plays a very important part in bolstering the strong dynamic between Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode. The vulnerability of Kidman’s character provides the necessary contrast to highlight the stronger personalities of the characters played by Wasikowska and Goode.

The movie’s composer Clint Mansell’s score also effectively complements Park Chan-wook’s style. Like a well-choreographed dance, Mansell’s music and Choon-wok’s camera work move so harmoniously that the lack of dialogue becomes negligible. Mansell’s score, coupled with Chan-wook’s visuals, present the story without the need for words.

Park Chan-wook brilliant amalgamates his education on classic Hitchcockian suspense and his own modern cinematic sensibilities. The Korean director is known for employing Hitchcockian elements in the movies he made in his homeland, and he doesn’t shy away from them for his North American film debut. Park Chan-wook’s use of shadows, dissolves, stark light contrasts, discordant music and several symbolisms throughout the film all point to the influence the Master of Suspense has had on him.

Yet, despite being highly influenced by the Master of Suspense, Park Chan-wook is a stand-alone auteur that has the ability to make his work distinctly original. Considering that he had to work with a first-time screenwriter, making a nonpareil out of a one-dimensional script is really something that deserves an acknowledgment.