Spoilers ahead!
Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein is a visually stunning and touching movie that does Mary Shelley’s (the original) Frankenstein justice. Jacob Elordi as the Creature, Mia Goth as Claire Frankenstein and Elizabeth, and Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein all did phenomenal jobs in telling their characters’ stories in the movie. The costumes, sets, and colours added emotional depth to the overall theme and were the cherry on top of the gothic elements in this adaptation.
Summary:
Victor Frankenstein grew up in a wealthy family with a loving mother, but a distant and estranged father, who trained him from a young age to be a doctor. Victor and his mother had a special relationship. When she dies, it leaves young Victor scarred, and he swears to conquer death. In his promise to do so, and through bouts of egotistical madness, his creation of the Creature emerges as he assembles it from parts of various cadavers. Victor tries to leave and destroy his living-dead experiment, but his effort will not end the life he created. As he becomes more monstrous, the Creature becomes more humane.
The Cast:
My oh my, did Guillermo Del Toro ever cook with the casting in this movie. Let’s take a moment to talk about Mia Goth. Let me say it again: Mia. Freaking. Goth. Ever since we’ve seen her on screen in one of her biggest roles in “X” as Maxine, she has captured the attention and favour of not only people working in Hollywood, but the people who’ve watched her since the movie’s release in 2022. I don’t think there is any role that Goth can’t do. She portrayed her characters (Elizabeth and Victor’s mother) with such graceful confidence. Goth herself has an out-of-the-worldly presence that brings another layer to Elizabeth. It makes her connection to The Creature and Victor so raw and special, as they are all distinct characters who don’t conventionally fit in with society. Even before I saw the movie and saw the stacked cast first, I had a feeling they were going to knock it out of the park.
Oscar Isaac embodied the role of the mad genius, shedding light on the emotional toll of the dark role. He did his job so well that I got so angry in my seat in the theatre when he was torturing the Creature. His performance was a realistic depiction of someone who goes too far and is obsessed with his work. It was particularly interesting to watch his portrayal of Victor and his slipping insanity — especially when he was battling on whether to save the Creature, or let him burn in the castle.
Jacob Elordi? As the Creature? I mean, if you were to ask me a year ago who The Creature was going to be played by in this depiction of Frankenstein, I don’t think I would have said Elordi. But let’s just say after seeing him perform and eat this role up that I think I smell an Oscar… Yes, he was that amazing. He portrayed the Creature’s innocence in a way that just repeatedly broke my heart. His body language, as someone who has just come alive and is learning how to walk, and what he looks like, was just captivating. We need him in more roles like this! I empathized with the Creature immediately. Like, I’m a Creature defender until I die now.
The Set:
When I read online that Guillermo Del Toro not only directed, but wrote the movie adaptation, I knew if I wasn’t pleased by the writing that the movie nevertheless was going to be a visual feast. I loved the rich decor in Victor’s castle where he was growing up, but I, amongst many other people who have seen the movie, was obsessed with the lab. This was the best lab out of any Frankenstein movie I’ve seen. The placement of the batteries, the huge window overlooking the land, the statue of Medusa, even just how isolated the lab was geographically, and the center slab where the Creature is to lie on was just “mwah,” chef’s kiss. Overall, the set was beautifully dramatic and helped me escape and be fully immersed/invested in the story.
The Costumes:
The costumes were an excellent example of how the outside reflects the inside. I loved all the details in all of Elizabeth’s costumes, but specifically adored Elizabeth’s wedding dress. It was a callback to the Bride of Frankenstein’s dress, as the fabric wrapping around her arm reflected the bandages on the Bride of Frankenstein’s arms. It’s almost as if Elizabeth is supposed to be the “Bride of Frankenstein,” even when she first meets the Creature and takes off her veil: a symbol of revealing herself to whom she can really relate.
Even though the costuming was simpler for the Creature (aside from the hours of spending time in the makeup chair), I thought it clever that his initial bandages resemble a diaper—as if he were a baby. It feels fitting for his recent creation, or in other words, birth. However, as he learns to survive on his own in a world that won’t accept him and faces the cruelties of Victor and the public, his wardrobe becomes layered and dark. Another detail I liked was the gloves Victor wore and the red colour of his late mother’s dress. Red used in the film, to me, represented the fact that Victor was carrying his oath to conquer death for the sake of his late mother.
The Story:
I loved that the story had a three-act structure following the same one as in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It was directional and allowed me to follow the growth in the Creature’s character and the ruin in Victor’s. Even though it was different, I enjoyed that Victor’s younger and more treasured brother, William Frankenstein (played by Felix Kammerer), was older and engaged to Elizabeth (making her not Victor’s cousin as it is written in the original text—because, ew). Besides, it always makes me sad in the original text and in other film adaptations that William always dies as a child. The only thing I wish was different is that there were more scenes of Elizabeth and the Creature.
Before this film, I didn’t love the pairing of the two being together. Especially in Kenneth Branagh’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994), when in that adaptation Elizabeth is killed by the Creature and is turned into a Creature herself by Victor, in order to be with her forever. However, when she realizes what Victor has made of her as the Creature tries to steal her away from Victor, she dies a gruesome death, and I always thought that was such a sad end for her. In this depiction, as Elizabeth is like a creature herself, she and the Creature establish a relationship early on. This change made me root for her to become what her wedding dress resembles, the Bride of Frankenstein. I thought that was going to happen when she was later brought to the Creature’s cave and put on the rock to lie on, but I guess it was too good to be true.
Overall, this movie blew me away. The acting, set, costumes, and story made it so that this movie is in my top 4 on Letterboxd, which is pretty hard for me to rearrange. I think this Frankenstein is a classic of Del Toro’s, and is certainly one in my heart.