A repeated fascination of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s is “of monsters and men,” more specifically, the ways in which monsters and humanity dovetail into and deviate from each other until audiences can’t tell which is the true monster and which is not. Comic book adaptations Blade II (2002) and Hellboy (2004) position literal creatures, Blade (Wesley Snipes) and Hellboy (Ron Perlman), as the last line of defense against murderers and villains while adult fairytale Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) utilizes the imagination of child Ofelia to examine the cruelty of post-civil war Spain. Gothic horror Crimson Peak (2015) examines the ways in which bloodlust and jealousy create terrible specters that will follow us to perdition, while The Shape of Water (2017) and Pinocchio (2022) imagine a world in which creatures reveal the best and worst of humanity. In almost all cases with these stories and the ones unmentioned, it’s not the individuals humanity fears that are its greatest threat, but humanity itself. Thus does del Toro turn his creative eye to one of literature’s most beloved stories investigating this very notion — Mary Shelly’s 1818 Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. Using his usual artistic flair and practical special effects, del Toro offers a slightly different perspective on the story, narrowing and expanding the narrative so as to explore the relationship between fathers and sons, gods and creations.
L-R: Mia Goth as Claire Frankenstein and Christian Convery as Young Victor in FRANKENSTEIN. Photo Credit: Ken Woroner/Netflix. © 2025 Netflix, Inc.
After suffering the devastating loss of his mother, Victor Frankenstein (Christian Convery) decides to redirect the medical teachings of his surgeon father, Leopold Frankenstein (Charles Dance), toward eradicating death. Years later, after giving a presentation before a medical tribunal that leaves him ousted from a school he no longer sought to attend, Victor (Oscar Isaac) is approached by potential benefactor Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz). At first Victor’s wary, but as Henrich’s niece Elizabeth (Mia Goth) is betrothed to Victor’s younger brother William (Felix Kammerer), a certain trust is formed. With all costs covered, Victor is able to pursue his medical investigation unimpeded, driving forward to put a stopper on death without a single thought for what comes next should he succeed.
L-R: Charles Dance as Leopold Frankenstein and Christian Convery as Young Victor in FRANKENSTEIN. Photo Credit: Ken Woroner/Netflix. © 2025 Netflix, Inc.
The script for Frankenstein is adapted by del Toro from Shelly’s novel and brings with it quite a few changes. Some of them are quite small yet end up bringing with them a different emotional resonance, such as shifting Victor’s inspiration to chase immortality through medicine from a natural curiosity to something more personal. In this specific case, by centering the loss of his mother as the birth of this medical inspiration, del Toro positions Victor as a link in a chain of generational trauma that begins with his father, Leopold, and travels into The Creature (Jacob Elordi). The original novel treads in the themes of death and creation with Victor taking the place of G-d as the source of The Creature’s birth from the remains of the dead. But where Shelly had Victor recoil at The Creature upon its awakening, as though suddenly hit with revulsion at what he’s done, del Toro takes a different approach, using Victor to examine the concept of parentage and the responsibility that comes from creation. It’s still in the arena of the Promethean myth that posits the Titan’s formation of humanity from clay, but the script narrows it much further so that the subtext becomes text. This creates both the best and worst parts of the script as all the build up to the introduction of The Creature and all that occurs after never positions Victor as a victim, falling to pride in his pursuit of defying G-d, but as the true monster of the tale. It’s the best because, truly, Victor is the monster and the worst because the script tells us so directly. This type of communication is against type for the typical allegorical filmmaker and its presence within the film bears all the subtility of a sledgehammer when so much else is patient to the point of tedium. Truly, despite all the wonderous elements that make up Frankenstein, the audience begins to grow aware of every minute of its three-part form, even as it meets its illustrious end with a change that, again, will leave one teary in the conclusion.
Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in FRANKENSTEIN. Photo Credit: Ken Woroner/Netflix. © 2025 Netflix, Inc.
What shouldn’t surprise anyone, even amid the changes large and small, is the technical precision in near every facet of the film. Tamara Deverell’s (Priscilla; Nightmare Alley) production design tickles the imagination whether it’s the streets of Germany, Victor’s lab and The Creature’s birthplace, or the woods by which The Creature takes shelter, each set and location evoking an illustrated storybook brought to life (or a cautionary tale, depending on one’s perception). Kate Hawley’s (Pacific Rim; Crimson Peak) costume design is refined and thoughtful, helping to create not just clothes that fit the era, but outfits to bring out the psychologies of the characters. There’s a certain resplendence to everything involved from the gold-plated shoes we see and hear upon Harlander’s introduction to the ornate dresses Elizabeth wears to convey her stature and education; however, it’s Victor’s seeming disinterest in attire that’s most telling and how, as long as he’s devoted to stopping death, he always wears red, the color of his mother. Typically, it’s a scarf around his neck, but his red leather gloves invite one to ponder about the blood upon his hands for all the wreckage that follows Victor is caught in the wake of his own making when he devotes himself to this task and only this task, entirely failing to bear the responsibility for his actions in the aftermath. Composer Alexandre Desplat (The Midnight Sky; Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) presents some of the best portions of the film as the compositions elevate what occurs on screen in the way that it conveys, more often than not, the internal sensations of the characters. This is most prominent in the moment where Victor and The Creature first touch, not quite Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” with fingers just barely touching, but rather Victor tenderly embracing The Creature’s hands, the music shifting from its bombast amid the fury of lightning (and other dramatics) to quiet tenderness, creating a motif that would follow The Creature into his own adventure across the span of time from his birth to the end of the film. Desplat’s score is magical, a sublime companion for the physical technical elements that bring the story to life.
Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in FRANKENSTEIN. Photo Credit: Ken Woroner/Netflix. © 2025 Netflix, Inc.
One cannot discuss the technical without bringing up Elordi’s performance and the work of makeup artists Jordan Samuel (The Shape of Water; Crimson Peak) and Mike Hill (Nightmare Alley; The Shape of Water). While Isaac is, as-expected, solid in this, bringing a furious passion to Victor pre-birth and a devilish regret post that makes us realize that not everyone is fit to be a parent, especially when they believe (as they are taught) that all children deserve a firm hand instead of empathy, Elordi steals the focus of every scene he appears in and not just because of the incredible makeup work that gives The Creature it’s patchwork appearance. One would think that the makeup would do the heavy lifting for an actor, that they can disappear and merely emote, but Elordi bursts through, making himself so raw and earnest in the early portions of The Creature’s arrival, giving him a soulfulness that quite literally broke this reviewer’s heart. We believe not just that this is a re-animated individual who is starting from scratch, but, with the utterance of a single word over and over, Elordi conveys how The Creature sees Victor in the same way that children proclaim their own respective parents to hang the sun, moon, and stars. It’s not until Victor provides a reason for that innocence to grow tarnished that the delivery shifts and, even then, Elordi makes that rage entirely melancholic. It’s an aching performance that gets underneath your skin and keeps audiences engaged. This film is a two-hander between the actors, the rest of the cast doing a fine job in supporting roles, each one taking a specific position in the script’s exploration of parental responsibility and familial accountability; however, ultimately, this is Elordi’s film with all the emotional charge resting on The Creature’s arrival and every step after.
Jacob Elordi as The Creature in FRANKENSTEIN. Photo Credit: Ken Woroner/Netflix. © 2025 Netflix, Inc.
del Toro sees monsters through humanity often revealing itself to be the cruelest creation on Earth in how it engages with what it doesn’t understand. For all the changes del Toro makes to create his own vision for Frankenstein, this is the best piece. Here it presents itself not just in the violent rejection by Victor of his offspring or all the ways in which others violently react to The Creature’s visage, but in the way that The Creature internalizes this reaction toward self-loathing. We don’t need someone in the film to proclaim Victor a monster, the novel and its adaptations already do quite plainly; however, at least here, del Toro makes sure to do right by The Creature so as to address that rage and place the responsibility of healing where it belongs. Given the chance, however, this reviewer might ask the filmmaker about the presentation of the surgical scars upon The Creature and how his rapid adaptive healing adjusts their appearance as a metaphor for both the way violence changes us and how taking command of our fate can rejuvenate us. Until then, while Frankenstein is stronger in its pieces than as a whole, it’s more than a regurgitation of a lit major’s book report, it’s a story with something to say about humanity, our progeny, and the responsibility we all bear to nurture them with tenderness.
In New York City and Los Angeles theaters October 17th, 2025.
In select theaters nationwide October 24th, 2025.
Available on Netflix November 7th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Netflix Frankenstein website.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews, streaming
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