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How do you retell a classic story? Do you adapt the themes, and concepts into something new, bringing modern ideas to the story in an effort to rejuvenate? Or, do you do something more faithful, with only the most minor changes added in for the sake of your own vision?
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein falls very much in the latter category, but makes more changes to the 1818 original than I’d have had expected. It is both slavishly faithful to the original, while taking quite a few artistic liberties with its characters in an attempt to tell a more hopeful story.
Buoyed by some stellar performances, and a well-executed visual design, the film also suffers from moments of stilted and heavy-handed dialogue, some pretty horrendous CGI, and a runtime at 149 minutes.
What I’m saying is that the film is pretty good, but it’s definitely not without its flaws.
Gothic Beauty
Del Toro’s Frankenstein is not a horror film in the way we use the term today. There are no jump scares, or shrill musical stings to break a feeling of seeping dread. Rather, it’s a horror tale in the vein of the original novel: a slow, gothic, romantic, macabre exploration of mankind’s potential for evil.
It’s not surprising, then, that the film is a visual feast. Del Toro always has a keen eye for artistic direction, and he and his team absolutely nailed it here. There are several shots in the film that are simply beautiful, with a shot of the Monster silhouetted by the setting sun having stuck in my mind ever since I saw it.
It’s clear that Del Toro funnelled much of the budget afforded by Netflix’s involvement into creating some impressive sets which help bring the 1800s to life. There are a few moments, though—particularly whenever there is an animal on screen—of egregiously bad CGI. This is something of a Hollywood staple these days, but it’s worth pointing out whenever it happens because it never fails to pull me immediately out of the movie.
Thankfully, that is balanced with some very effective use of practical effects to deliver some great moments of gore.
I, Monster
The star of the show, though, is its inspired take on the Monster itself.
While, he’s still a man stitched together from multiple cadavers, Del Toro’s design allows for the more expressive and tragic parts of the character to shine through. While still a hulking giant capable of ripping a man in half at a moments notice, the Monster here feels more like a stumbling newborn than an empowered homunculus.
Praise must be heaped on Jacob Elordi’s performance here, as it’s the beating heart of the entire production. His large, somewhat gangly frame, paired with naive and almost-puppy-dog eyes allow his humanity to shine through. He stumbles, giggles, roars, learns, and most importantly, yearns.
I do think that there is something lost in how much was changed, though.
There is never any doubt that the Monster is, as Mia Goth’s ‘Elizabeth’ puts it, “pure”. He is capable of violence, sure, but we almost exclusively see him acting in self defence. There are no lingering doubts that maybe Victor accidentally brought something evil into the world, and the doctor’s refusal to create his “son” a companion feels more like an act of stubborn maliciousness than an ethical or moral one.
That’s not to say Issac’s performance is poor by any stretch, but Victor Frankenstein is far from a sympathetic character. Except sometimes he is, when the script demands it.
The issues with Frankenstein and his Monster are most likely down to years of rewrites and revisions cutting, changing, morphing and shifting what the characters ended up being on screen. We have to remember that Del Toro has been trying to get this movie made for decades. In my experience, sometimes when you get that close to a subject, you can lose a bit of focus.
Man of Many’s Verdict
I went into Frankenstein expecting to like it, and instead felt conflicted when credits rolled. Del Toro’s flair for the macabre is there, and the Monster itself is fantastically realised in almost all aspects, but there are other parts of the movie that simply came off as hokey.
I’m glad that Del Toro managed to finally make his ‘white whale’ movie, and fans of his are sure to get a kick out of his long-awaited take on Mary Shelley’s original text. I do think, though, that some of the heart and soul of the story was lost along the way.
★★★☆☆
Frankenstein launched into cinemas on 23 October, 2025, and drops on Netflix on 7 November, 2025. The film was adapted for the screen and directed by Guillermo del Toro, and stars Jacob Elordi, Oscar Issac, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Christopher Waltz, and Lars Mikkelsen.
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