Frankenstein – Film Review
Reviewed by Harris Dang on the 23rd of October 2025
Netflix presents a film by Guillermo del Toro
Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro based on ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley
Produced by Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, and Scott Stuber
Starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Christian Convery, Lars Mikkelsen, Charles Dance, and David Bradley
Cinematography Dan Laustsen
Edited by Evan Schiff
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Rating: MA15+
Running Time: 150 minutes
Release Date: the 23rd of October 2025
Guillermo del Toro is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers working today. He is best known for films about fantastical creatures, including the Academy Award winning films Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), The Shape of Water (2017), and Pinocchio (2022). Unsurprisingly, adapting Frankenstein, the renowned novel by Mary Shelly, has been one of del Toro’s long-anticipated passion projects.
Numerous film adaptations have been made for over a century, starting from the silent era in 1910 to the James Whale films for Universal Studios in the ‘30s and ‘40s, as well as Hammer Films in the ‘50s through to the 70’s. The story has been moulded into numerous adaptations, parodies and spoofs, including Young Frankenstein (1974), Blackenstein (1973), Frankenhooker (1990), Frankenweenie (2012), and, most recently, Lisa Frankenstein (2024).
In this Frankenstein, its titular character, Victor (Oscar Isaac), is an incredibly talented scientist whose ego has driven him to unreachable heights beyond his intelligence. In a prelude, Victor is found near-death in the North Pole by Captain Anderson (Lars Mikkelsen) and his crew. While their ship is stuck in the ice, Victor tells the captain his tale, starting with his childhood (where he is played by Christian Convery). Driven by a thirst for science by his overbearingly strict physician father, Leopold (Charles Dance), Victor is distraught over his mother’s death, as she dies giving birth to his brother, William.
To cope with the loss of his mother, Victor plans on permanently removing death from the equation. His numerous attempts have made him infamous in the science academia. However, his work intrigues Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), a wealthy arms dealer who bankrolls Victor’s work due to his interest in alchemy. He is the uncle of Elizabeth (Mia Goth), who is engaged to a now grown-up, William (Felix Kammerer). Through an assemblage of body parts sourced from fallen soldiers on the battlefield, the creature (Jacob Elordi) comes to life during a freak electrical storm and is born into the cruel, violent world.
Del Toro opts for a Southern Gothic look and dissolves the horror leanings prevalent in prior film adaptations (similar to his approach with Crimson Peak, 2015). The style brings eloquence that adds credence to the drama and astounding grandeur to the filmmaking and visual storytelling. It never opts for an operatic and garish sense of emotion as it hardly takes any chances for histrionics. Unlike many film adaptations, the creature is truer to the novel by being intelligent and not monosyllabic. His hulking appearance is also less bolted on and more sculpted. He is more like Rodin’s The Thinker and less like the Golem of Jewish folklore.
Without spoilers, although they hardly qualify as spoilers since the novel has existed for over 200 years, the film is told in three chapters. The first is the prelude, the second Victor’s tale, and the third is the creature’s perspective. At a 150-minute runtime, del Toro has plenty of cinematic real estate to reveal what makes the characters tick. Their predicaments and outlooks on life become increasingly similar, which escalates the pathos and creates beautifully understated and powerful consequences. However, the plentiful runtime does not provide much conviction or investment in other story details, such as the character William, despite Kammerer’s best efforts.
Despite the grandeur (it has a $150 million budget), Frankenstein never loses itself in its opulence. The production design by Tamara Deverell, costumes by Kate Hawley, Alexandre Desplat’s score, and cinematography by Dan Laustsen vividly realise Shelly’s storytelling through del Toro’s vision. Themes of violence begetting violence, nature vs. nurture, existentialism, playing God etc are all delved into with patience, empathy, and beauty. While there are didactic moments, those moments are reverential to prior iterations of the source material, like how Victor is told he is the real monster. It also helps that the cast sell their roles with energy, nuance, and conviction.
Isaac portrays Victor’s many sides with vivacity and without a sense of narcissism. He never shies from the ego, anger, ambition, grief, and pain Victor faces, making him flawed and compelling. Elordi completely disappears into the creature (aided by the striking creature design by Mike Hill) and relies on physicality and cadence to come to life. The way he reacts to new discoveries like natural bodies of water, the forest’s greenery, and Elizabeth’s enchanting presence is played with a childlike innocence and feral instinct. Elordi’s performance becomes poignantly vulnerable and alluring in his mystery.
His scenes with the wonderful David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones) as an old blind man who takes him under his wing are fantastic in their bonding and learning of a new world of language and storytelling. Goth exudes intelligence, mettle, and empathy underneath her China-delicate appearance. She makes her scenes with Elordi romantic and emotionally stirring.
Frankenstein is the perfect melding of Guillermo del Toro’s sensibilities with Mary Shelly’s novel to deliver a worthy and faithful adaptation that will please fans of both beloved storytellers. Recommended.
Summary: Frankenstein is the perfect melding of Guillermo del Toro’s sensibilities with Mary Shelly’s novel to deliver a worthy and faithful adaptation that will please fans of both beloved storytellers.
4
Strong
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