Frankenstein Review: Guillermo Del Toro's Gloriously Gothic Monster Movie Is Alive
by Chris Evangelista · /FilmA gothic, blood-drenched work of art, Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein" is a movie made for lonely goth weirdos and lonely goth weirdos at heart. It's a stunningly beautiful adaptation of Mary Shelley's immortal classic, and a movie that del Toro has been trying to get made for several years. There are seemingly countless adaptations of "Frankenstein" — hell, Thomas Edison (!) produced one back in 1910 — which might beg the question: can anyone actually add anything fresh to such a well-worn tale? The answer, via del Toro's ornate take on the material, is a resounding "yes." There's still life in this monster yet. Del Toro's script maintains the bones of Shelley's novel while adding a jolt of electricity via how he interprets and reimagines the well-established characters.
This film's take on the Creature, played by towering hunk Jacob Elordi, is particularly novel — it's arguably the most sympathetic version of the character ever captured on film. The monster has always had a touch of sympathy to him, but del Toro and Eloridi have configured him here to be a tragic, beautiful being, violently brought into a world that doesn't understand him. Elordi's performance, aided by stunning make-up work, is the film's true highlight — he plays the Creature like a kind of giant lost and abused puppy, longing for affection. Our heart aches for him.
Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein highlights Dr. Frankenstein's flaws
Meanwhile, Dr. Frankenstein is given a villainous turn. It's standard "English Lit 101" at this point to suggest that in Shelley's story, it's the doctor who is the actual monster, so del Toro isn't exactly pushing the envelope here. Still, his take on "Frankenstein" leans into the idea that Victor Frankenstein, played with a foppish arrogance by Oscar Isaac, is a deeply flawed genius who sets in motion a chain of events that leads to death all in the name of creating life. The fresh idea del Toro's script comes up with, however, is introducing a vicious cycle of parental abuse into the well-known story. We see that Victor's childhood was overseen by a cruel father, played by Charles Dance, who demanded greatness from his son and physically abused the boy when he failed to live up his dad's standards.
Del Toro also introduces an Oedipal angle to the material by casting Mia Goth as both Victor's doomed mother and the object of his lust, Elizabeth. In Shelley's book, Elizabeth is Victor's childhood friend whom he marries. Here, she's the fiance of Victor's younger brother, William (Felix Kammerer), who gets roped into his brother's machinations. Goth's Elizabeth is a curious, sensitive woman who finds Victor's experiments fascinating at first but ultimately sours on the scientist when she begins to see how cruel he can be. That cruelty has been inherited, passed down through generations — when Victor eventually gets around to making his monster, he's not above physically beating his artificial son the same way his father once beat him.
Frankenstein is a beautiful film
In del Toro's script, Victor is predictably obsessed with finding a way to defeat death, especially since his beloved mother died giving birth to William. Isaac, his hair long, his gait a rock star strut, plays Victor as a milk-chugging jerk completely convinced of his scientific abilities. Luckily, he finds a rich benefactor, arms dealer Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), who is willing to finance Victor's experiments. Stitching together a beautiful corpse, Victor harnesses the elements to create life. While he initially sees the creation of his Creature a success, his short-temper gets the better of him when this hulking behemoth isn't as intellectually skilled as his maker might want. Rather than show patience and love towards the Creature, Victor reacts harshly, shunning his monster-child. If you've seen literally any other "Frankenstein" adaptation, you know this choice will eventually result in tragedy (and a body count).
All of this unfolds in poetic, sumptuous fashion, enhanced by del Toro's penchant for lavish production design. He's a filmmaker who understands the power of women stalking around the shadows in flowing gowns clutching candelabras; who finds elegance in blood spreading across fabric; who fills each and every frame with elaborate, unapologetically baroque beauty. Nothing here is simple; no room is just a room, it's a staging area for massive, impossible architecture with cavernously high ceilings. Working with cinematographer Dan Laustsen, del Toro gives practically every scene, every shot a brilliant vibrance designed to take your breath away. This is a truly beautiful film.
Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein has nothing but sympathy for the Creature
But these visuals wouldn't be nearly as effective if del Toro had neglected the emotional heft of the story. Thankfully, he has Elordi to do a lot of the heavy lifting. While Isaac's Victor is intentionally hard to like, Elordi's Creature is gentle and innocent, frequently surrounded by cute little animals like a Disney princess. As is tradition, the Creature does inflict violence as the film goes on, but del Toro's script makes it clear that all of this is due to self-defense. Sure, the Creature straight-up rips a dude's jaw off at one point, but we completely see where he's coming from. The make-up work used to bring the Creature to the screen makes great use of Elordi's natural good looks, hitting the right blend of horror and beauty. Yes, he looks like a walking, talking corpse stitched together from various body parts — but he's a beautiful walking, talking corpse stitched together from various body parts.
I have long had an affinity for Frankenstein's Monster, ever since childhood when I first sat down and watched Boris Karloff play the role on VHS. It might be too soon to say that Elordi's take on the character is the best on screen version (it's hard to beat Karloff, after all), but it is one of the most unique, and most relatable. If you were ever an awkward, lonely kid (as I sure was), you will understand the longing that beats in the character's reanimated heart.
This really is one of the best Frankenstein movie adaptations
Clocking in at a whopping 150 minutes, "Frankenstein" feels long, although some details don't get as much attention as they should. Goth's Elizabeth is underused, and a moment near the end that she shares with the Creature feels a touch unearned and likely would've played better had del Toro devoted a little more time to fleshing things out. Del Toro is aiming for gothic romance with these moments, but they don't quite land the way they should. I wanted more. I also wanted a bit more of the up-and-down relationship between Victor and Elizabeth; I get why he lusts after her, but her connection to him is a touch undercooked.
None of this is enough to actively harm the film, though, which feels consistently massive and sprawling, a true epic in every sense of the word, heightened by Alexandre Desplat's booming, occasionally playful score. I gave myself over almost completely to this film from the get-go, embracing the horror and the beauty that del Toro was conjuring up. There have been many adaptations of "Frankenstein," and I've seen almost all of them. But Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein" lives and breathes the way few others have before. It's alive.
/Film Rating: 9 out of 10
"Frankenstein" will have a limited theatrical release on October 17, 2025, and a global Netflix release on November 7, 2025.