Those who would connect with the Creature include this movie’s Elizabeth, perhaps the most distinctly original version of the character to date. Elizabeth enters the story via her relations with other men and earns her first scene when she catches Victor’s attention. Yet she proves that she’s so much more than an extension of anyone else, whether she’s rejecting the ideals of either Frankenstein brother or studying the Creature. Goth finds a new application for the uncanny screen presence she brought to Pearl or Infinity Pool, establishing through facial expressions and posture that Elizebeth does not belong in polite society.
Wonderful as Elordi and Goth are, Isaac’s take on the mad doctor is more difficult, and rightfully so. Despite being roundly criticized for his English accent in the Marvel series Moon Knight, Isaac goes posh for Frankenstein, his clipped delivery highlighting the mannered performance. Yet he makes Victor so manic, so driven only by his passions that the accent no longer feels like the bad reproduction of real speech and more like an idiosyncratic language spoken by this one genius. Isaac takes control of the screen during an early scene—in which an inquisition into Victor’s method becomes a platform for him to challenge God—and he never lets go.
The passion that Isaac, Goth, and Elordi give their characters doesn’t quite overcome the movie’s overall messiness, however. Del Toro earns most of his film’s 150-minute running time, and yet the final 20 minutes still feel rushed. It’s not just that the final confrontation between the Creature and his creator lacks urgency; its that del Toro suddenly scrambles to say something about the nature of war and forgiveness and regret, suddenly shoving themes into the film that seemed unimportant earlier. For such a thundering, emotional film, Frankenstein ends with a disappointing whimper.
One gets the sense that the movie’s themes dissipate because del Toro doesn’t really care about them. However, no one can charge him with being lax with his visuals. Like all of del Toro’s movies, Frankenstein looks incredible, taking full advantage of the Gothic setting to create cavernous sets and to clothe Goth in luscious dresses. Cinematographer Dan Laustsen and Tamara Deverell give the film a world as overheated as its characters, most notably with the converted water station that becomes Victor’s laboratory, complete with a yawning hole in the center.
This Frankenstein looks like no other version of Shelley’s story, and it feels like no other version. It’s not necessarily the best movie about a man who challenged the Almighty and paid the price for meddling in God’s domain. But it is the only version that could come from Guillermo del Toro’s wonderful genius.
Frankenstein streams on Netflix on Nov. 7, 2025.
