Guillermo del Toro's Stellar Gothic "Frankenstein" (2025)

Now I tell my tale.

Based on Mary Shelley’s classic story, Frankenstein is a 2025 Netflix film directed by Guillermo del Toro. The brilliant scientist, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment. His bias on the creature’s intelligence leads to tragic outcomes as he wanders into the world.

When Frankenstein premiered at the Venice Film Festival, it received a 14-minute standing ovation. Frankenstein is a stellar production that takes a classic story and rebuilds it into a bold and compelling dramatic tale. There are several ways you can tell a story, not just one. This adaptation brings life to a rich tale of tragedy and discovery.

The casting is brilliant, with each actor embodying their character. Oscar Issac plays Victor Frankenstein while Jacob Elordi plays the Creature. Isaac delivers a magnetic performance as Victor. There is more behind this scientist’s broken shell, longing to conquer mortality and success.

Calling Jacob Elordi’s performance as the Creature “incredible” is an understatement because he added so much to this role and completely disappears. Playing the Creature has been the most demanding role in Elordi’s career. He studied for months on how to play the part, even taking Japanese butoh dance and Mongolian throat singing.

The Creature has always been an intriguing character in Frankenstein. He has more human emotions than Victor intended. Once outside his chambers, the Creature discovers the world and makes human decisions despite how others react to his monstrous appearance. Despite negative reactions, his behavior is an example of being human.

Casting also includes Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, Felix Krammer, Charles Dance, David Bradley, Christian Convery, and more. The supporting cast is one of the greatest strengths of Frankenstein, adding nuance and emotional depth to the story.

Guillermo del Toro is a passionate filmmaker. I would love to sit down and have a conversation with De Toro. I admire his insights. His craft shows through every layer of his projects, and the overflowing notebooks of ideas. Frankenstein has always been a passion project since watching the original Frankenstein (1931) as a child.

As soon as the movie finished, I looked up all the behind-the-scenes fun facts. Frankenstein spent nine months in production. Del Toro goes above and beyond to portray this astounding and gothic world. He wanted everything to be real, which meant no AI.

From the towering laboratory with its marble spiral staircases and haunting circular motifs to the decaying grandeur of Gothic Europe, every frame is suffused with symbolic meaning and tactile richness

Everything in Frankenstein is practical. It’s unnerving to see people’s obsession with AI use, even for the simplest tasks. Movie-making is all about bringing imagination from the human mind to the screen. Having robotic systems write, plan, and create new worlds ruins the effect.

Since del Toro went for a practical approach, production took a longer time create sets and other technical elements. Originally, Andrew Garfield had the role of the Creature, but had to drop out. The makeup team had to reform months of planning to have the makeup resemble Elordi in only a few weeks.

Frankenstein is an impactful story about humanity. Everyone reacts in horror to the Creature’s disfigured physical appearance, which is harmless. He also adds his own social commentary and gives back to society. The scene with the blind man has always been my favorite part of the story.

Del Toro’s Frankenstein is a masterpiece in filmmaking. I was invested in the film the entire time. Frankenstein has several award buzz, and it’s a movie to watch in the upcoming awards season. Find it streaming on Netflix.