After decades of toiling, and a lifelong obsession with monsters, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is alive⚡His ultra gothic passion project breathes new life into Mary Shelley’s masterpiece of the macabre (more than 200 years after its publication!) taking a few new liberties with the story but also presenting a more faithful adaptation than we typically see. Oscar Isaac (Dune) fully embodies the egotistical madness of Victor Frankenstein (we had no doubts he would) but Jacob Elordi (The Mortuary Collection), the real wild card of the movie, surprises with a nuanced performance of The Creature that humanizes the character, bringing with him the pain and angst of Shelley’s existential woes.
As the quintessential mad scientist story of our times, Frankenstein movies are often obsessed with the horror of The Creature and the wake of destruction that follows him. Del Toro, on the other hand, returns to the novel’s deepest philosophical concerns to craft a timeless story about the tragedy of our own existence and the unanswerable questions that plague every living thing. But don’t worry, there’s also plenty of gnarly make-up & effects, Oscar-worthy Victorian fashions, and stunningly lush set design. You would expect no less from the man that made Crimson Peak (2015) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006).
““Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is every bit the melancholy mad scientist film that we expected from him.“
If you’ve heard del Toro speak about Frankenstein, or if you were fortunate enough to visit the touring exhibition “Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters”, then you might already know that The Creature is almost a deity to him. In his eyes, The Creature is a messianic figure, and he has loomed large over the director’s life and works. He drives that idea home with the presentation of his own Creature, complete with a reverse-crucifixion in his creation, a symbolic crown of thorns, and a weeping cut in his side like Jesus‘ spear wound. Victor even goes so far to say, “It is done,” which are among Jesus’ last recorded words, rather than the expected “It’s alive!“.
The design of the creature is unique to del Toro’s film as well. Rather than a patchwork of rotting pieces, his Creature looks like a clean medical specimen come to life, a milky white model of man with defined musculature and anatomical perfection (save for all the stiches and seams where he was fashioned from war corpses). In his early days he is as innocent as a newborn, but his creator (his father!) is disgusted and rejects him. Typical Frankenstein stuff, but the complexity of their relationship, told through the performances of Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi, is where Guillermo blends the similarities between Father & Son and God & Creation. In a really interesting addition, the only word on the lips of the Creature is “Victor“, driving home both sides of that relationship moment to moment.
Elordi’s performance as The Creature really shines in the second half of the film, when the narrative torch is passed from “The Modern Prometheus” to “The Monster of Man”. This is always where The Creature‘s humanity is explored, where the moral and philosophical quandaries of Shelley’s story really come to life. It’s also where The Creature gets to smoke a cigar if the movie is groovy enough to let it happen (Guillermo says No). In this segment, through the compassion and cruelty of the world, The Creature learns of his origin and begins to make demands of his creator, namely, a bride. Which is to say, Mia Goth (Infinity Pool) is in this movie too, y’all!
Sadly, Goth’s Elizabeth Harlander is not as monumental a character in this telling as I would have hoped. Her role is somewhat of a surrogate for Mary Shelley, but it’s hard to see her as more than a gothic object of affection for a 3-dimensional love triangle. In del Toro’s story Elizabeth is the fiancé of Victor’s brother William (Felix Krammerer), and niece to Victor’s benefactor Heinrich Harlander (played by the impeccable Christoph Waltz). Naturally, Victor has eyes for her immediately, but he finds himself competing with not only his brother, but with his creation as well. Goth is given a few scenes to express the hard-to-swallow truths of this tragic tale, but even as a bug-obsessed astute voice of reason, her character feels underutilized (at least on this first viewing).
As with all of del Toro’s films there is A LOT to discuss in his narrative, and in the visual language of his costuming, his set decoration, his staging, etc. He is a brilliant visual storyteller, and it is very hard to fully take in his work at first glance. It’s hard to even convey everything in one short write-up (I’ve probably got another 3 paragraphs in me about Victor’s relationship with his mother and the movie’s obsession with milk), but that is a strength of this story. It is astounding that this story came fully formed from the mind of an 18-year-old, but it is a testament to the universality of this “monster” that we are still discussing and dissecting it today.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is every bit the melancholy mad scientist film that we expected from him. If you are going into this movie hoping for bombastic monster mayhem, it’s in there but just know that it comes with a mountain of gothic gloom. Fans of the novel will surely appreciate this change of pace, and del Toro is absolutely the filmmaker to delve into those existential themes while still providing an entertaining monster movie. Although it may not have a pitchfork-wielding mob burning down a windmill, The Creature is still a hulking menace when he needs to be, ripping out jaws and punching off heads like a 17th century Jason Voorhees.
“del Toro is absolutely the filmmaker to delve into these existential themes while still providing an entertaining monster movie.”
This is by no means the last Frankenstein movie we will see on the big screen, but for the time being it is surely one of the most impressive. Every announcement of a new adaptation comes with some degree of skepticism but when we all learned that Guillermo del Toro would finally give us his version of the Frankenstein story, we all knew we were in good hands.
Hate Living. Love del Toro.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is in theatres now and will be available to stream on Netflix beginning November 7 (but seriously, see it in the theatre if you can). Dying to obsess over this gothic masterpiece with someone who loved it as much as you?? Share your thoughts with us in the official Nightmare on Film Street Discord. Social Media is A Cesspool. Come Hang With The Cool Creeps.
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