Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Mary Shelley, Guillermo del Toro
Stars: Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Oscar Isaac
Synopsis: A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
For as long as one can remember, director Guillermo del Toro has wanted to bring his vision of Mary Shelley’s iconic novel “Frankenstein” to the big screen, and put his own spin on the material. As a massive fan of horror and fantasy, having dabbled in the two genres his entire career, the story of a genius, egotistical scientist driven to reanimate someone from the dead and defy all scientific odds is one primed for del Toro’s eccentricities. With his latest movie, Frankenstein, he finally gets to present that vision to the world.
Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) was always brilliant as a child, learning quickly how to operate on others and find success in all methods possible. As an adult, he believes he can bring people back to life with all motor and mental functions intact and devises a method to do so through a bizarre experiment that goes against everything in science. Driven by his narcissism and ego, as well as an endowment from Heinrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), he performs the experiment and gives birth to a creature (Jacob Elordi) that is reconstructed from different body parts, a creature who is less than happy with his creator as the days progress.
As is the case with every Guillermo del Toro project, Frankenstein is a technically remarkable movie with every frame executed as beautifully as one would expect. From the spectacular production design by Tamara Deverell to Dan Lausten’s incredible cinematography, to the terrific visual effects and outstanding creature effects for the monster himself, the movie is an audiovisual marvel on every conceivable level. The period costumes by Kate Hawley are sublimely presented on screen and complement the movie’s gothic architecture and ambience, all set to an incredible score by Alexandre Desplat that brings the story to more vivid life. The sound design booms in the movie’s louder moments, particularly during the standout experiment sequence where the monster is brought to life, and del Toro’s signature flourishes and visual knacks when it comes to the fantastical nature of these scenes is on full display throughout.
Frankenstein is a story about both Victor and his monster, and capturing the tragedy and horror in each of their lives and how it drives them. It is this emotional bedrock that is built into Shelley’s original story, and makes up a solid chunk of del Toro’s vision as well. Oscar Isaac is excellent as Frankenstein, embodying the incredibly flawed, self-centered, yet extremely intelligent and clever scientist as he descends further down the rabbit hole to make this experiment come to life, disregarding everything else around him as he nears success. The scene stealer of the movie, however, is Jacob Elordi as the creature himself. His best performance to date, Elordi brings a vulnerability and humanity to Frankenstein’s creation that adds a powerful emotional layer to the movie, and showcases the tragedy of his existence and the sadness of seeing horrific events unfold wonderfully. Seeing the creature learn more about what he is and who he is makes for incredibly compelling viewing, and his scenes with Elizabeth Lavenza (Mia Goth, excellent here) make for wonderful additions to his story.
Photo Credit: Ken Woroner / Netflix
At 2 hours and 29 minutes, Frankenstein is a monumental movie and del Toro’s longest to date, giving ample amount of time to Victor and the Creature’s storylines. However, while the monster himself is given significant emotional backing, the same cannot always be said for the titular character, whose storyline often just moves from one scene to another with very little time given to some scenes so they can breathe a bit more. As a result, some of those moments do not land as well as they could, particularly when it comes to Victor’s early life and his relationship with his father, Leopold (Charles Dance), and brother, William (Felix Kammerer). The pacing is also stunted slightly at times as a result, and the first act can feel a bit messily structured as a result. Once the experiment is about to be carried out and the Creature is brought to life, the movie picks up significantly and ends on a very satisfying note.
Frankenstein may not be Guillermo del Toro’s best movie to date, but it is his most ambitious, and the love and care he has for the original story is present throughout its runtime. While it may not hit every beat perfectly, it is a mostly successful effort that has the potential to be even better on subsequent viewings. Its look into the existence of monsters and the monstrous nature of humans themselves makes for fascinating viewing, and a movie worthy of del Toro’s illustrious catalogue.
