Frankenstein, 2025.
Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen, Christian Convery, Charles Dance, Burn Gorman, Ralph Ineson, Cullen McFater, Lauren Collins, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Roberto Campanella, Stuart Hughes, and Joachim Fjelstrup.
SYNOPSIS:
A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
Guillermo del Toro’s long-gestating take on Mary Shelley’s iconic Frankenstein is a curious mixture of source material faithfulness, the filmmaker’s personal fantastical, graphic novel-esque style, and an excessive amount of Netflix money thrown at the screen. Despite the impressive CGI, this adds a layer of hollowness to the proceedings. Fortunately, making up for that is an unrecognizable, transformative Jacob Elordi as the Frankenstein creation known as The Creature, capturing both his sensitivity and rage in equal measure. That’s also fitting for a filmmaker such as Guillermo del Toro, long fascinated with both beauty, Gothic romance, and no-holds-barred violence.
Utilizing a two-chapter format where both Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) and The Creature recount stories to the captain of a shipwrecked boat far north in search of the North Pole, the film tells the familiar story. Again, the key difference here is that it might have more financial backing than ever before, which is both a blessing and a curse. The former takes us through his tragic upbringing (played at a younger age by Christian Convery), where his mother died young of a terminal illness and his father (Charles Dance) placed tremendous pressure on his studies. As a result, Victor became obsessed with not only preventing death but also unholy scientific experiments involving piecing together body parts and organs from different bodies while seeking ways to give them life. Essentially, he is a mad scientist playing God, funded by his brother’s fiancée’s (Mia Goth) arms-dealing uncle (Christoph Waltz), who also has a stake in these experiments.
As for Elizabeth Lavenza, she recognizes Victor’s genius but is equally repulsed by his arrogance. Once his creation is a success and doesn’t do much beyond repeatedly saying “Victor”, he’s bored and more irritated by The Creature than anything. Meanwhile, Elizabeth approaches the Creature with something resembling a nurturing gentleness. It creates a dynamic that is easily recognized as part of the appeal of Guillermo del Toro as a storyteller. However, it strangely feels shortchanged in a film dedicating just over an hour to a deep dive into the creation process.
That’s one way of saying some of this version of Frankenstein feels dull, and no amount of elaborate and colorful costume designs or lush photography from regular cinematography collaborator Dan Laustsen can change that. Fortunately, the film fares better and truly picks up once it switches perspective to The Creature, where Jacob Elordi really gets to tap into a vast range of emotions with astonishing makeup effects. As most likely know, his journey through life away from Victor’s betrayal is filled with moments of grace, amassed knowledge, and humanity (despite his monstrous appearance), but not without turns of events involving heart and even more betrayal. It’s also in those moments where emotion comes alive.
However, whatever the budget expense on this Frankenstein is, that certainly doesn’t make it the definitive version that Guillermo del Toro went for. It is a solid interpretation that makes the most out of stellar production design, dazzling effects, and evocative performances and imagery, but there is also some artificiality to it. In some respects, it’s a Frankenstein itself, with Guillermo del Toro putting his stamp on Mary Shelley’s material all within a Netflix house style that yields some mixed results.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
