Frankenstein

• Produced, Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro
• August 30, 2025 (Venice) / October 17, 2025 (United States-Limited Release) / November 7, 2025 (Netflix)
• Based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

An egotistical scientist’s experiments in creating new life results in a creature he cannot control and consequences he could not anticipate.

I’m sure like the majority of the public most of my knowledge of Frankenstein comes from any number of adaptations over the years. I think I looked at maybe a few pages of the book (or more likely a Classics Illustrated version) when I was in school, but not nearly enough to tell you anything about the source material itself.

I have read other books from the period in which Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus came out and the flow and tone of Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix adaptation of Frankenstein comes off like a one-to-one transfer of such a book to the screen. In that push for authenticity and desire to be 100% faithful to the novel it becomes a bit pretentious and full of itself. I’m not saying not to be faithful to a book but film being a visual medium you need to keep things moving and understand that not everything needs to come to the screen.

This is star-studded affair and perhaps some of that interest in the minutia comes from needing to justify the cast. There is Oscar Isaac as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Felix Kammerer as Victor’s younger brother William, Jacob Elordi as his creature, current horror go-to girl Mia Goth as Lady Elizabeth Harlander who is William’s fiancée, Lars Mikkelsen fresh off a bad turn as Grand Admiral Thrawn in Ahsoka as Captain Anderson who is a Danish captain with a boat stuck in ice, Christoph Waltz as Elizabeth’s uncle Henrich Harlander who is a wealthy arms manufacturer funding Victor’s experiments for personal reasons, David Bradley as a serious version of the blind man in contrast to that of Gene Hackman, the brilliant Charles Dance as Victor’s father Baron Leopold Frankenstein, the man with the best voice in entertainment Ralph Ineson as Professor Krempe, and finally the ever creepy Burn Gorman as an executioner. Nothing wrong with a stacked cast but del Toro may feel a need to justify their participation rather than only using them as much as was necessary. Fine for a miniseries. Not so much for a film.

I’ve never been a big fan of Oscar Isaac. I don’t hate him. I just don’t think he is the greatest actor ever. He does well with his material but never great. I have trouble believing he is Victor or that he is driven to the point of near madness to create his creature. His Victor is frantic but not much beyond that. Even his attraction to Elizabeth is more a thing to do than an aspect of the character.

Jacob Elordi as The Creature was another matter. He was a fully developed character from almost the start. Even in the moments when The Creature only repeats one or two words because of a very limited vocabulary there is a wounded and complex nature that makes you feel sorry for it. As the character grows and changes you still keep that empathy.

There are times Frankenstein can be a painfully slow film. There’s nothing wrong with a slow film but there is something wrong when a film that is too slow. I’ve watched many long movies like The Ten Commandments and even marathoned watched Jesus of Nazareth and none of those felt long. There’s just so much pointless talking on the screen that the narrative flow creeps along. You take too much time and you turn possible art into pretentiousness that creates boredom. A director needs to keep a movie feeling like it’s moving.

The amount of milk consumed in this movie borders on surreal. Glass after glass is slung back with such frequency you notice it not being there. It borders on ‘running gag.’ If this was in the book or a practice of the era it should have either been explained or ignored. Without context of a type it is weird.

In any story situations need to be set and there is a necessity to understand the characters. What we get is everything when all that is really needed is just enough to get the idea. We don’t necessarily need to know them as well as a family member might. All those little moments feel like side quests. For some reason Elizabeth’s connection to The Creature gets no development though it plays an important part. Unless I tuned out due to boredom, I only recall two brief scenes involving the characters which explained little.

Unlike other iterations of the story, Victor Frankenstein is no nice guy. He is ego driven and self-centered and often blames his creature for what he has done such as the death of Elizabeth’s uncle Henrich or even Elizabeth’s shooting. As demonstrated by the flashback nature of the film Victor only takes on a level of true acceptance for his role in things when there’s nothing left to lose.

Victor finds himself on a boat stuck in ice relating his story as he sees it before The Creature comes to tell his. We watch as the characters start in one place and end as the other started. This serves to direct Captain Larsen to give up his possibly dangerous push to pursue his mission.

The film is well directed. Guillermo del Toro has made many distinctive films. Some of them I’ve seen and enjoyed. I expected something perhaps more sophisticated and literary than most and I believe that’s what I got but it didn’t make for an interesting film. He did not know how to keep things moving and my guess is that there was nobody there that could or would tell him “No.” “No” is very important. It forces you to rethink how to do something or justify why you want to do something. Perhaps even say to yourself you need to let a particular aspect go.

There are themes of forgiveness along with daddy issues. Victor comes from an emotionally abusive home with a dad that not only resented him but seems to resent Victor’s mother as well. Conversely daddy loves his brother William but I’m not really seeing how William is too different from the young Victor though he is much different from the adult Victor. The attempt at showing forgiveness comes from The Creature and Victor hashing it out with their respective stories. In the end though it felt more like pity.

Frankenstein is a gorgeous film both musically and visually. It’s one of those movies that you could watch with the sound off and be seeing a thing of beauty. It’s just a long slog. Frankenstein goes on and covers far too much. While pretty to look at it is ultimately just boring. You will feel every minute and then some watching this.