Movie Review: Frankenstein (2025)

Frankenstein (2025) written and directed by Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro has had a life-long sympathy for monsters. Perhaps the most sympathetic monster in all of literature is Frankenstein's Monster, the creature crafted and then discarded by its creator. Long before zombie films presented humans as the real monsters, Mary Shelly gave us Doctor Frankenstein as the real monster, the modern Prometheus who is so obsessed with finding fire that he does not even think about what will happen once he has it.

The movie starts in the Arctic with a ship frozen into the ice as it tries to reach the North Pole. The crew are busy chopping away the ice when they spot an explosion off in the distance. They find a dogsled with the canines unharmed and a man with a shattered leg and other injuries. They bring him back to the boat as another being stalks out on the ice. The injured man is Doctor  Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaacs). The Creature (Jacob Elordi) attacks the ship, forcing the crew to fight back, though it is a loosing fight until they can submerge the Creature under the ice. Victor claims the Creature will just come back and relates his story to the Captain (Lars Mikkelsen), starting from his woeful youth as a medical protege to his domineering father (Charles Dance). Young Victor goes through a lot of hardships and develops a hardness and ambition that fuels the tragedy that unfolds.

The movie follows the general outline of the novel with some added background. Victor's childhood is marked with jealousy over his mother's affection and disdain for his father's excessive discipline. His obsession with creating life is admired (he has the attention to detail that del Toro himself has for filmmaking) and excessive (Victor doesn't care about the impact of his work on other people, not a trait del Toro shares). His minor successes with various body parts and partial cadavers spurs him on to the larger project of a whole person. But once he achieves his objective, he's at a loss and unsatisfied with all the other work he has to do, like caring for the Creature's needs. Victor has the Big Idea but not the Big Picture. His impatience with his creation (also with his collaborators, friends, and family) turns the situation blacker than it already is. In addition to giving the Creature life, Victor has given the Creature immortality, with healing so quick he is almost invulnerable. But the Creature has no satisfaction in life, especially with no community or companions. Victor refuses to create one, seeing it as a ploy to foster a new and horrible race. What the Creature wants is a genuine human need. But Victor does not see him (or anyone else it seems) as a genuine human. That attitude causes a lot of suffering, though there is a moment of redemption at the end that is touching. Del Toro manages to respect the source material and make his own creation.

The performances are good. Isaacs is compelling as the Doctor. Elordi captures the angst and frustration of the Creature in a very dynamic performance, the best of the movie. His immortality and super strength (at one point, he rocks the ship out of the ice!) are too over-the-top and are a bit distracting. The character of Elizabeth (Mia Goth) starts out interesting but quickly devolves into a romantic object for Victor, the Creature, and Victor's brother (Felix Kammerer). The problem is more with the script--they could have used less childhood narrative and given Elizabeth more. 

The production values are great. Del Toro always makes beautiful movies, even when they are dark or pessimistic. Everything from sets to makeup to visual effects looks wonderful.

Recommended--I still like the Karloff version best but this is probably my number two Frankenstein movie.