After hundreds of movies featuring Mary Shelley’s Creature, auteur director Guillermo Del Toro, known for creating empathetic depictions of monstrous creatures, took the chance to adapt this iconic character to the screen.
In this film starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz, we follow two perspectives: Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Isaac), his troubles and possible Oedipus complex, and his creation (Elordi), seeking a purpose in the world in the wake of his abusive creator. With this story, Del Toro uses an idea known in some capacity to tell a grand, yet somber tale.
For such an ugly story of betrayal, misunderstanding, and the twisting of the human body, Del Toro crafts a beautifully shot film. Apart from some distracting CGI animals, fire, and explosions, Del Toro has created a visually arresting movie. The landscapes that he and his talented team have created are lush and vast, with a large scale that makes the story feel bigger than life.
It felt like I was being brought into a world that I was both unfamiliar with and yet wanted to see more of. The production design is filled with great details about the state of each character, like how destructive yet beautiful Victor’s tower is, and the differences between the higher class (Victor and the other characters) and the demonized (the Creature).
The costume design also demonstrates much about the characters, even giving distinctions that we keep in mind towards themes that Del Toro presented. Victor, while coming from a high society, is often sluggishly dressed and visually unappealing.
Mia Goth’s characters, as Victor’s mom and Elizabeth, are the only characters up until the end of the movie who wear bright colors such as red or blue, which draws attention to how they affect Victor and the Creature throughout the story. The Creature dons the tattered uniform of the deceased soldier, showing his separation from society as one of the dead despite his clear signs of life.
The other technical aspects of this film electrify the senses in multiple ways, such as the rich sound design and Alexandre Desplat’s incredible score. Aiding the outstanding technical capabilities are a set of wonderfully committed performances that put life into this film.
Oscar Isaac as Dr. Victor Frankenstein perfectly encapsulates the madness required for this specific version to work. He emulates the abusive nature of his own father in his treatment of the Creature with such ease. His bitter companionship with Mia Goth’s Elizabeth also shines through as a standout of the film. Goth’s beauty and often cold demeanor create an entertaining feud between them that shows Victor’s need for a human companion, which leads to his creation of the monster (it also helps that Goth also plays Victor’s previously deceased mother, further confirming his need for love).
By far the best performance in this movie is Jacob Elordi’s Creature. From his humble beginnings, Elordi perfectly plays this being as peaceful, playful, yet tortured. Del Toro’s script and Elordi’s performance greatly elevate this movie, crafting a tender and empathetic view of the Creature often associated with horror, like in James Whale’s 1931 classic. The Creature’s journey in this movie is the best section, containing heartfelt and genuinely tear-jerking moments, demonstrating Elordi’s powerful performance.
On a story level, separating the film into two parts and a prelude creates an aura of mystery and constant questions of what led to the opening scene. While I enjoyed Victor’s perspective, it took up too much time making the film feel longer than its 150-minute runtime. Although I wish the climax had lasted longer than it did. Despite some pacing issues and questions about Christoph Waltz’s character and what that leads to, the movie could have benefited from showing, not telling. We know going into this from the countless adaptations of Victor’s monstrous actions, so I wish Del Toro hadn’t made certain moments more obvious, taking away the power of a scene.
Del Toro’s take on Frankenstein proves itself to stand on its own alongside countless adaptations. With great direction, decent writing, fantastic acting, and set pieces, he was able to craft a movie that general audiences would enjoy and fans of the book would appreciate.
Frankenstein is exclusively streaming on Netflix.
