Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, screening at the BFI London Film Festival, uses familiar trappings to ignite a tale as old as time with Del Toro’s virtuoso brand of stunningly uncompromising gothic filmmaking.
Frankenstein has been a long time coming. Guillermo Del Toro, the Oscar-winning director behind Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, and many other fantasy gems, has expressed his desire to adapt Mary Shelley’s seminal 1818 novel throughout his expansive career. Now, finally, Netflix has entrusted him to breathe new life into the familiar tale, and if anyone could or indeed should, it’s Del Toro. ‘Frankenstein‘ is a narrative many have tried and failed to conquer, with the story so ever-present in both entertainment culture and storytelling that it’s a wonder this version feels so gloriously unique.
Del Toro sticks religiously close to the book from the ice battle prologue to the perspective shift from Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) to The Creature (Jacob Elordi). His respect for the story is evident in his meticulous and vibrant design; every structure could be a medieval oil painting, but it is grounded in a visceral, biting chill.
Victor becomes obsessed with medicine and human anatomy from a young age, driven by his father, Leopold (played by Charles Dance), but with the ambition to surpass him. This ambitious streak is key to believing in Victor’s maddening vision, an early indication of twisted success that morphs into a tragic flaw, or hamartia. He is fascinated by death and seeks to find a cure, if you will, by reassembling a human body piece by piece and bringing it to life. The story beats with a human heart that only Del Toro could create through a misunderstood monster.
Frankenstein. Oscar Issac as Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2025.
The film is bursting with invention and a gleeful energy that always keeps things in motion. Oscar Isaac plays Victor with an ever-growing intensity, his cruel streak exposing the price of egomania in a mind plagued by God-like visions. Here, the world is both desolate and bountiful, and Victor’s castle is extravagant; however, it is the freezing cold basement and watery prison that give birth to his creation. Jacob Elordi delivers a standout performance as the creature, bringing a tragic vulnerability to the role. Essentially, he is a baby in an adult’s body, but with a more fully functioning brain. He’s lost but also excited at every possibility.
Victor’s frustration at his slow development morphs into misplaced rage, the creature is treated like an abused pet and longs to escape through the storm drain leading out to sea. He delicately places leaves in the running water and watches them flow to a better reality than the one in which he exists. He may have a kindred spirit in Elizabeth (Mia Goth), Victor’s adopted sister and eventual wife – she sees the creature beyond his patchwork skin, personifying a significant theme of acceptance and humanity in the inhuman.
The creature’s section becomes surprisingly low-key, despite much brutal imagery in his construction – sawed off legs, veins, and sinew picked apart and placed into his porcelain, dead skin. Here, the film adopts a sweeter, emotional tone, which beautifully offsets some of the darker moments and gore. Fleeing Victor and the castle, the creature hides out in the barn of a family of hunters who tried to kill him. Here, he eventually befriends a blind man who teaches him to read and express an opinion. This is the upbringing Victor should have given his creation if he were to thrive in the way he expected. The film delicately demonstrates that a positive environment and innate goodness are within us all, without veering into saccharine territory. The world is plenty cruel to the creature, but the journey to finding one’s purpose is a core truth that rings true for any human or monster alike.
Some audiences may be frustrated at the similarities to Del Toro’s back catalogue that Frankenstein represents, but when the results are this immaculately cathartic, it’s hard to care. You can easily forgive a man so endearingly invested in a passion project for those similarities.
Frankenstein is playing in cinemas from Oct 17 and on Netflix from Nov 7.
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