Certificate: 15

Running Time: 149 mins

UK Distributor: Netflix

UK Release Date: 7 November 2025

WHO’S IN FRANKENSTEIN?

Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, Christoph Waltz, Charles Dance, Lauren Collins, David Bradley, Sofia Galasso, Ralph Ineson, Burn Gorman

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Guillermo del Toro (director, writer, producer), J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber (producers), Alexandre Desplat (composer), Dan Laustsen (cinematographer), Evan Schiff (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Victor Frankenstein (Isaac) conducts a horrifying experiment…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON FRANKENSTEIN?

If Mary Shelly had never come up with the terrifying tale of a mad scientist who brings life to a dead person, chances are that Guillermo del Toro would have done so instead. The classic story is well within the auteur’s wheelhouse, with its violent and sometimes grotesque fantasy-horror leanings mixed with a humanistic study of what separates men from monsters, to where it’s surprising that he is only now adapting Frankenstein after creating an entire filmography that owes a great debt to its very existence.

But even if you know what to expect with a version of Frankenstein by the same filmmaker as Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, you may well still be surprised by how exceptionally beautiful his take on Shelley’s tale is. Both hauntingly gothic and also extremely personal, this is an epic version that – unlike so many other straightforward adaptations, whether it’s the classic 30s film with Boris Karloff, or Kenneth Branagh’s faithful yet deeply flawed take – really gets to the heart of both the titular scientist and his shocking creation, while expanding the story itself to account for a number of emotional layers that have made it such a timeless tale.

Starting in the vast icy landscapes of the Arctic sometime during the 19th century, the film sees Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) – incredibly weakened, and with a golden prosthetic leg – being rescued by a stranded Danish naval crew, with an indestructible and super-strong Creature (Jacob Elordi) not far behind, angrily demanding his creator be handed back over to him. This prompts the doctor to recall his life story to the crew’s captain (Lars Mikkelsen), from his unhappy childhood where he grew up with his wealthy but cold-hearted father (Charles Dance), to becoming a brilliant but arrogant scientist determined to grant life to the dead. The latter part soon attracts the attention of weapons merchant Heinrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz) who, while his niece Elizabeth (Mia Goth) cosies up with Victor’s younger brother William (Felix Kammerer), ends up funding his crazed experiment.

Of course, this being the story of Frankenstein, we all know what that experiment ends up being, and del Toro uses that familiarity as a powerful weapon that transforms the material into something that is familiar yet fresh. His adaptation is largely faithful, altering a few key elements that make certain figures more palpable than they end up being in the original book, but by and large it features many of the same beats, including the initial experiment and its resulting creation’s abuse by his creator and later connection with kindlier outside sources. Those hoping for something that would ultimately go a radically different direction will probably be a little put off by how it narratively plays things safe, even factoring in a similar framing device as Branagh’s version that ultimately robs the story of some of its mystery.

Where del Toro does differ, though, is in how he presents this well-known story, with a huge emphasis on the gothic nature of this world where, much like Victor Frankenstein himself, morbid curiosity is what fuels its inhabitants and leads to tragedy for most if not all. The production values on this movie are phenomenal, with the sets, costumes, makeup effects and cinematography all leaning heavily on a grandiose, almost comically overblown scale that is always striking to look at, which for a filmmaker like del Toro whose past films have been coated all over with imposing fantastical designs is not a massive stretch, but remains incredible in their artistry and imagination while not distracting from the essence of the story. Few other versions of Frankenstein can claim to be so gorgeously designed, at least to the level that an exceptionally talented filmmaker like del Toro has achieved, in what has to be some of the most passionate craftsmanship he has yet displayed.

This is also a version of Frankenstein that recognises how the ultimate tragedy of the story is tied solely to its two central figures, but unlike certain adaptations and even to an extent the original book, both are given equal footing that allows both of them, in their own way, to come off as empathetic and deeply human. In an entertainingly theatrical performance by Oscar Isaac, this interpretation of Victor Frankenstein is so haunted by his upbringing that his newfound role as essentially the father to his undead creation brings about many of the same mistreatments that he suffered from as a child. That ends up having a profound effect on the Creature, as played by an extraordinary Jacob Elordi, whom after separating from his de facto father experiences not just kindness but also cruel loss and harsh judgement for the first time in his reanimated life, causing him to grow more resentful and self-loathing like Victor before him.

What del Toro does very well here is to present Frankenstein and the Creature as two sides of the same coin, both connected by early instances of abuse that form a cyclical pattern that turn both into different kinds of monsters. Their tragic circumstances, especially later on in the movie, form a significant part of the film’s beauty, as it shows that even when formed from something horrific, there is still a chance for both to reckon with their pasts and move beyond their melancholy toward something that might not necessarily be better, but certainly free of insecurity about themselves and their overall contributions to the world at large.

It’s a Frankenstein movie that both understands every last letter of the source material, and expands upon it to make the original themes resonate so much more than past other versions. With its exceptional production values and heartfelt storytelling, it strikes a bolt of lightning into a story that may have seemed dead for a while, but now has an unmistakable sense of life.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Frankenstein sees Guillermo del Toro adapt the classic story with a heavy emphasis on the gothic elements of the tale, while expanding on the narrative with complex and deeply personal themes that, along with memorable performances by Oscar Isaac and especially Jacob Elordi, make it an adaptation for the ages.

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