FRANKENSTEIN (NETFLIX) (2025)

SYNOPSIS: Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

MOVIE REVIEW:

It took Guillermo del Toro almost three decades to bring Frankenstein to the screen. Del Toro, a big fan of gothic horror, has been fascinating fans with movies like Mimic, Crimson Peak and the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water. Frankenstein is yet another worthy del Toro creature feature that’s destined to be remembered for decades to come.

Maintaining a relatively faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic, Oscar Isaac plays Baron Victor Frankenstein, the mad scientist responsible for bringing the Creature to life, funded by Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), a wealthy army doctor.

Of course, del Toro isn’t one to introduce simplistic body horror just to please genre fans. There’s also the complicated relationship between Victor and his surgeon father, Baron Leopold Frankenstein (Charles Dance), his younger brother William (Felix Kammerer), and his future sister-in-law Elizabeth (Mia Goth). The best, however, comes from the narration of the Creature (Jacob Elordi), who craves the love and validation of his creator.

Though terrifying in appearance, the Creature is a social outcast with a big heart. His touching bond with a blind old man (David Bradley) speaks volumes. Even if he is made up of broken, dead body parts, he is shown to have more true humanity than the average living being. Victor, on the other hand, is a cold, ambitious, and cocky jerk, the kind of creator everyone grows to hate. Del Toro draws a fine, distinct line between good and evil, and the compelling dynamic between the two remains the highlight of the drama.

Both Isaac and Elordi are magnificent in their performances especially the latter, delivering a pained and poetic portrayal of a tortured soul. Mia Goth, equipped with an extravagant wardrobe (and plenty of Tiffany jewellery), gives a memorable performance as a strong-willed, opinionated woman.

For a creature horror feature, del Toro once again proves his keen eye for crafting bloody, grotesque surgical moments and even a visually stunning wolf attack sequence. The costume and production design are elaborate and astonishing, save for a few unconvincing CGI backdrops. Still, it’s a surprisingly subdued effort — del Toro clearly prefers letting the words and themes speak for themselves rather than relying on plain gore.

For such a familiar story, it’s amazing how del Toro manages to keep things “alive” for more than two hours of running time. Every aspect of the movie is top-notch. If Universal is truly keen on rebooting its monster-horror franchise, they should already know who to call.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee