Frankenstein (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review)

PopEntertainment
2 days ago
2 min read

FRANKENSTEIN (2025)

Starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Charles Dance, Lauren Collins, Sofia Galasso, Ralph Ineson, Burn Gorman, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Kyle Gatehouse, Joachim Fjelstrup, Peter Millard, Peter Mcneill, Sean Sullivan, Stuart Hughes, Gord Rand, Kenton Craig, Val Ovtcharov and Anders Yates.

Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro.

Distributed by Netflix. 150 minutes. Rated R.

Screened at the 2025 Philadelphia Film Festival.

Guillermo del Toro has been wanting to make a version of Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel Frankenstein for a couple of decades now. However, even the visionary filmmaker was unsure how much more he would be able to add to this often-told story.

Well, it’s finally here, and it is spectacular. Del Toro has made the best film version of Frankenstein in years – personally, my favorite since Young Frankenstein over 50 years ago. However, while that version of the story was played for laughs, del Toro’s take on the legend is very, very serious, almost somber. However it is also epic, grand and stunningly filmed.

Hard to believe this was made for Netflix.

Del Toro’s look at the creature strays from the traditional lore in certain ways. For example, unlike previous versions where a single whole corpse was used for the experiment, here it is made up of lots of distinct parts – one man’s hand, another man’s leg, a heart and a face made up from different bodies. It ends up looking like a patchwork doll.

Also, this version of the creature is immortal. He can be shot, stabbed, burned, drowned, etc., but eventually he has a complete recovery. Which is in certain ways is even more tragic – the creature wants nothing more than to just fade away, but his body and fate will not allow him to do so.

Of course, as with most versions of the tale, the moral conundrum is a simple one, even acknowledged by the main characters. Quite simply, who is the real monster – the creature (Jacob Elordi) who was created through no fault of his own, or the doctor (Oscar Isaac) who brought him to life without realizing or considering all of the potential pitfalls of that scientific act.

The story here begins a few years after the experiment, where Doctor Frankenstein is heading to the North Pole to escape his monster, but he is tracked down right as he is apparently rescued by a stuck ship which was exploring the Arctic. Through flashbacks, Dr. Frankenstein tells his story as the creature lurks out in the snow, and when the creature finally gets on the ship, he also tells his story.

It is beautifully done and will undoubtedly be one of the big Oscar contenders for next year. (The film had a two-week theatrical run before going onto Netflix to make it qualify for the Academy Awards.)

Now that del Toro has made this dream come true so spectacularly, hopefully he will decide to also do The Bride of Frankenstein, which is another dream project of the filmmaker.

Jay S. Jacobs