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Film: Frankenstein
Year: 2025
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Christoph Waltz
Review:
This was a film that intrigued me when I first heard about it being made. Guillermo del Toro is a director who has created visually stunning works. Seeing him taking on this classic tale was interesting, because he does well in crafting gothic stories. This is one that I tried lining up a few times to see in the theater. The long runtime didn’t make it easy. I was able to see this at the Gateway Film Center in 4K.
Synopsis: Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant but egotistical scientist, brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both creator and his tragic creation.
We start in the mid-1800s. There is a vessel that is trapped in the ice. The captain is Anderson (Lars Mikkelsen). He has his men trying to free them before they’re completely stuck until the spring. Morale is low. That’s when they hear explosions. He takes a group to search for what happened. They come to a camp and find a hurt Victor. He’s taken back to their ship. Something attacks them that night. It is hooded, walks like a man but is much stronger. They are able to fight it off and they think they’ve killed it by drowning it in the water under the ice.
Victor is tended to by the doctor on board and the captain asks what happened. He goes about telling his story. It starts back when he was a boy. He is Christian Convery and he was mostly raised by his mother, played by Mia Goth. His father was Leopold (Charles Dance), who was the baron and a world renowned surgeon. There were complications in childbirth that left Victor’s mother deceased. It also doesn’t help that Leopold doted on his younger brother, William (Rafe Harwood).
After his mother's death, Victor became intensely focused on his studies, leading him to Edinburgh. At a university hearing led by Professor Krempe (Ralph Ineson), Victor impressed the crowd, including Harlander (Christoph Waltz), by temporarily animating a partial man using electricity. Harlander, who was there to announce William's marriage to his niece, offers to fund Victor's research and provide resources, contingent on a few requests, one of which was undisclosed.
William (Flex Kammerer) then arrives with his fiancée, Elizabeth (Goth). Victor is smitten with her, but she seems to be turned off by his arrogance and his beliefs. They do become friends. This is something that Harlander also notices. Victor does focus on solving his issues, both with the aid of his brother and Harlander. It takes time and that runs short with a war that Harlander is profiting off coming to an end. He also is harboring a secret. Victor does what he can to get the body ready and for their laboratory equipment in place.
I’ll then say that the creature does live, played by Jacob Elordi. He draws the ire from his maker when all he seems to be able to say is Victor. We then follow what led him to the Arctic, where he befriends a blind man, played by David Bradley, and how humanity might truly be the monster here.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I’ll start is that Mary Shelley’s source material is one of my most seen of all time, up there with Dracula from Bram Stoker and then probably Robert Louis Stevenson with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It is something that is familiar, so it can be easy to re-adapt. The problem then becomes doing something that we haven’t seen before. What I love here is that del Toro takes the major plot elements and then gives his variation on it, so credit here.
Now what I mean there is that one of my big issues with Universal’s classic take is that it is one half of the story, the mad scientist creating the creature, then it getting free before being brought back to the castle. Bride of Frankenstein then tells the second half. What we get here is starting in the Arctic, which then has Victor recounting what happened. The first chapter is his story, before the creature gets to tell his side for chapter two. That’s not to say that this is a complete retelling, but it hits the important points for sure.
Part one reveals Victor's motivation to conquer death: his mother's death devastated him, and he blames his renowned surgeon father, whom he is determined to surpass. Intriguingly, Elizabeth did not grow up with him and they’re not engaged in this version. They have a forbidden courtship, but she remains loyal to his brother. This change humbles Victor, and Isaac delivers a good performance as the mad scientist.
I will then discuss the creature's plight. Its patchwork appearance, similar to Kenneth Branagh's version, is preferred as it aligns with the novel. Elordi brings good height which is explained in the narrative by Victor choosing longer limbs for more work area. Elordi conveys sadness through his facial expressions and body language, suggesting a fear of people, especially Victor. This sadness fits the role and informs the rage that develops later.
Let’s then shift over to the supporting characters of note. I like Leopold creating this determination within his son. The neglect he uses to cultivate is sad though, especially with the abuse he inflicts. It does help explain his arrogance, as his father is that way. Waltz reminded me of Dr. Pretorius from Universal’s Bride. He becomes Victor’s benefactor and it creates tension when the resources will disappear. I also want to bring up Elizabeth. She at first dislikes Victor, then comes around. We get an interesting reveal for her as she is also interested in science.
Moving then to discuss the acting performances. The film is primarily a character study of Isaac and Elordi, whose excellent performances drive the story as other characters push them toward their destiny. Waltz is effective as Harlander, keeping Victor on track and making an intriguing request during the experiment. Goth is great again, with Elizabeth’s interest adding complexity to the climax. Kammerer is good in his role. Mikkelsen and his crew aid the framing story, complemented by great cameos from Dance, Bradley, Convery, Ineson, Peter MacNeill, and Burn Gorman.
I’ll then finish out with the filmmaking aspects. Del Toro's visually stunning direction expertly captures the gothic atmosphere and time period, utilizing steampunk for sci-fi elements. The creature design is excellent, and the effects are brutal, though the potential overuse of CGI is a minor flaw. The soundtrack perfectly complements the tone. However, the film is overly long, which is its main drawback despite the complex story.
In conclusion, del Toro's take offers a visually stunning and thematically rich re-adaptation of Shelley's classic, succeeding by framing the narrative as two distinct chapters—creator and creature. Despite the long runtime, the film is a successful and respectable take on the beloved Frankenstein story, largely due to excellent performances from Isaac as the arrogant Victor and Elordi as the tragic creature. The film's fresh complexity stems from adhering to the creature's patchy novel aesthetic and the nuanced changes to Victor and Elizabeth's relationship. Strong supporting characters, fitting gothic atmosphere, and effective cinematography contribute to a compelling character study that hits all emotional and plot beats.
My Rating: 8 out of 10