Frankenstein (2025) – – Beauty and the Beast?
In this artistic retelling of Mary Shelley’s 1818 masterpiece, Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus by Academy-Award winning director Guillermo del Toro (of “The Shape of Water”, “Pan’s Labyrinth”, “The Devil’s Backbone” and “Hellboy”), we see his trademark signature of portraying “monsters” as sympathetic characters. For those viewers who thought they knew the story of Frankenstein, this epic will surprise.
Unlike other Frankenstein films, here Dr. Victor Frankenstein (portrayed by Oscar Isaac of “Dune” and the Star Wars trilogy), dominates the story only in the first half of the film. The doctor justifies his arrogant and callous ambition to create an immortal being without regard to consequences. However, in maintaining the structure of Shelley’s novel, del Toro gives over the second half of the narrative to The Creature (Jacob Elordi from “Saltburn”).
Heartbreakingly poignant at times with a romantic subplot involving Elizabeth (Mia Goth), a beautiful and intelligent niece of Victor Frankenstein’s benefactor, (Christoph Waltz) both Victor and the Creature fall in love with her. But the beauty prefers the beast.
Spurned by Victor, his feelings of revenge and rage consume him, motivating him to destroy the object of Elizabeth’s affections. Creator and creation switch roles of hunter and hunted, as The Creature learns to feel and ultimately to speak and finally to read. Once the Creature learns to read, his torture truly begins as he gradually realizes his own humanity, while being an outcast in society’s shadows.
Most of the suffering is caused by the loss of connection to others: the death of this beloved mother, the absence of friends and colleagues, and a desired lover in the case of Victor. In the Creature’s situation, he has no family, was loved by a woman he could not realistically be with, and is befriended by a blind man (David Bradley as Argus Filch in “Harry Potter” and Walder Frey in “Game of Thrones”) who believes in his goodness.
Victor increasingly becomes more a monster, than a manic scientist, as he drowns in his madness. His rabid ambition, secrecy, and selfishness are repellent, with no human decency. Now a murderer, his rage merely increases his self-loathing and despair. The Creature, in sharp contrast, becomes more human looking in appearance (underscored by constant changes in makeup). As long as he is fated to live forever, The Creature yearns for a companion.
No one asks to be born, but few wish to die. With this overriding theme–why are we born?–we see Frankenstein and his “fathering” of the Creature take on Shakespearean proportions–tragic wounds that only the blind old man is capable of understanding when he embraces The Creature.
What makes Frankenstein worth watching is the symphony of superb casting–particularly Isaac, Elordi, and Goth. But also the creative energy cinematically presented before the viewer’s eyes: an aesthetic worthy of an art exhibit. Sumptuous chiaroscuro settings, one after another, worthy of a Caravaggio painting, make dark, poetic, and deeply haunting cinematic shots of fear, regret, and despair. Frankenstein is an on-screen curated art exhibit.
Del Toro crafts every scene–for example, the monstrous lab with a cruciform to impale The Creature, the Victorian abandoned factory where munitions were manufactured–in formidable, daunting attention to detail.
Pausing to truly witness the artistry is highly recommended. Pacing of the story is subordinated to the beauty of the images so some viewers may find Frankenstein a bit slow and tedious.
Availability: Netflix
Note: In 2016 the Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA) hosted an art exhibition, Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters, featuring some of his set designs, drawings, and paintings.