Frankenstein (2025) – Film Review

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Christoph Waltz
Certificate: 15

By Joe Sterlacchini

Those familiar with the story of Frankenstein – either through reading the novel or through James Whale’s original 1931 film – will have a clear idea of how a “Frankenstein” movie is supposed to go. For the most part, this film follows the book faithfully; Frankenstein experiences something in his early childhood that sets him on a quest for mastery over life itself. As in earlier adaptations, that quest leads him to the University of Ingolstadt, where he continues his studies in creating life, eventually bringing forth the iconic ‘monster’ (not named Frankenstein). The film then follows Victor’s reaction to his new creation and the relationship between them.

This is where Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation is at its strongest; the interactions between Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as ‘the monster’ are unlike anything shown previously, and the film has you discovering Victor all over again – as if seeing him for the first time through the monster’s eyes. I understand it’s a cliché to say that Frankenstein “was the monster all along”; however, this is the only adaptation I’ve seen where a character is humanised, ‘monsterised’, and then humanised once more so many times within a single film.

“Sense of dread”

Alongside this change to Victor, the director has no fear of taking creative liberties. When I first realised this in the cinema, the purist in me felt creeping doubts about how much I was going to enjoy the film; those doubts were put to bed very quickly when I saw that the new additions – such as Elizabeth’s love for the ‘monster’ – serve only to enrich the story Mary Shelley created.

Moviegoers well versed in the original should expect to be pleasantly surprised by new characters such as Elizabeth’s uncle, Heinrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), as well as new plot points that make the film both more hopeful and, at times, even more gut-wrenching.

And who can talk about any Gothic film without talking about the atmosphere? From the icy winds of the Arctic, to the labyrinthine streets of Ingolstadt, and finally the stony scar in the landscape that is Frankenstein’s castle, the film never lets you forget that suspense isn’t just up to the actors – the landscape itself is imbued with a deep sense of dread that cannot be ignored.

Every climactic moment is embellished with expert use of pathetic fallacy; the birth of the ‘monster’ arrives with a dramatic thunderstorm that attacks not just through its striking visuals but also through superb sound design. Every emotional scene is reflected, in some form, by the surrounding environment, and I’m sure many fans of the genre would agree that this is one of the most important elements to capture in a film of this nature. Guillermo del Toro executes it perfectly.

“Fantastically horrific”

Now, to the big question – what did the monster look like?

Tall and imposing, but gentle and handsome. Yet again the film does not fall short. The opening shows a large, looming threat, draped in dark, ragged cloaks – nothing more and nothing less than a rampaging angel of vengeance. Later, we see him naked, vulnerable, mutilated; we watch him grow into a man through the way he begins to groom himself and the way he dresses.

Frankenstein (2025), to me, was what the ‘monster’ should have been to Victor – a successful revival that I’ll love and cherish over the coming years. The film is a mish-mash of everything I love about Gothic literature, stitched together in a way only Guillermo del Toro’s fantastically horrific imagination could achieve. If you share my love of all things dark and grisly, I couldn’t recommend Frankenstein enough.