Adaptation has been a heavy theme within Guillermo del Toro‘s most recent films. Nightmare Alley, based on the novel of the same name; Pinocchio, an Italian classic from the 1880s; and now his boldest adaptation yet, Mary Shelly’s classic “Frankenstein.” Frankenstein is the film del Toro has been building towards throughout his career. From Pan’s Labyrinth to The Shape of Water to Hellboy, del Toro has interwoven bits of Shelly’s masterpiece throughout his work. Taking on a task as daunting as adapting the true literary nature of “Frankenstein” would break many directors. Yet, del Toro has an eye for adaptation and a gothic sensibility that transcends cinema. It’s as if Shelly’s material calls to del Toro, tempting him to explore the idea of Creation and creator through the lens of “The Modern Prometheus.”
The prelude closely follows Shelly’s work. It’s 1857, and a stranded ship finds a half-dead Doctor Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Issac) on the ice near the North Pole. As the crew takes in the dying Victor, a horrible creature (Jacob Elordi) with immense strength attacks the ship, leaving six dead. Recovering from his wounds, Victor laments his tale of sorrow and science to the ship’s Captain (Lar Mikkeleson), but not before begging the Captain to turn him over to the mercy of the monster.
Victor’s story takes him back to childhood, his loving mother, and his cruel father. Training to become a doctor and suffering the death of his mother, Victor becomes obsessed with extending life beyond death—an obsession without limits. After a series of grotesque experiments, the academic world rejects Victor for playing God. However, as Victor’s academic endeavors are at an end, a wealthy benefactor, Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), offers him a proposal and all the funding needed to carry out his unnatural experiments.
What follows in Victor’s tale and the Creature’s tale continues the ethos of the Gothic classic. The film introduces Mia Goth as Elizabeth, Victor’s soon-to-be sister-in-law, expands on Jacob Elordi as the Creature, and gives agency to Harlander’s need for the experiments. The entire cast is committed to the material, especially to del Toro’s literary approach to Frankenstein. Isaac delivers some of the film’s best dramatic monologues, Waltz is charismatic as ever, and Elorid unleashes inner torment yet innocence as The Creature. Goth plays Elizabeth with solemn comfort and subtle grace, making Elizabeth’s care for The Creature feel even more organic to the narrative.
The Creature’s tale makes up most of the last third of the film. Allowing for Jacob Elordi to shine as cinema’s most famous monster. Del Toro alumnus David Bradley brings warmth and wisdom to the Blind Man, as The Creature begins to discover his own humanity. While The Creature’s tale still offers plenty of parallels to Shelly’s text, the first half overshadows the middle with the sheer performances and thrilling scenes of Victor’s quest to conquer death.
But adaptation is the key, and what makes Frankenstein such a unique and successful adaptation is the emphasis on all the literary elements that make Mary Shelly’s classic a classic. Adapted by del Toro himself, the moments where Frankenstein deviates from the novel feel organic to the original text’s core themes, yet at home in del Toro’s version of Victor’s Creation. Del Toro does not shy away from the moral questions of Shelly’s story or the framing of the Creature and Victor’s tale. Performance works in tandem with del Toro’s expertise as the complete cast steers into the bold theatrics of Victor’s persona and the plight of his Creation.
Gullmero del Toro’s style is perhaps the most prominent selling point of all his films, but even more so with an epic as renowned as Frankenstein. Gray gothic hues permeate each scene. Green gory bodies make up Victor’s lab. The color theory alone is a masterwork of del Toro’s body of work, and it’s on full display throughout every frame of Frankenstein. Expanding on the color, del Toro’s eye for character design and makeup effects continue to thrive from Victor’s experiments to the Creature himself. From the Oscar-worthy makeup to the period-piece set designs, Frankenstein has del Toro’s signature aesthetic in every frame.
2025’s Frankenstein shares little DNA with the Universal days of Boris Karloff and 1931’s Frankenstein. Many films bearing the name “Frankenstein” use the foundation but shy away from the prestige of the literature. Other adaptations are not inferior by any means, but rather speak to the scope and influence of Shelly’s original horror novel (maybe the original horror novel). However, there is room in the pantheon of cinema for both Boris Karloff and del Toro’s version of finding life after death. For what would del Toro be without the Universal Monsters taking special effects to new heights, and what would those monsters be without del Toro reframing them for a 2025 audience? 2025’s Frankenstein is a celebration of the drama and philosophy of “The Modern Prometheus,” while still retaining the soul of classic Hollywood. Del Toro’s movies have been “event cinema” since his early days, and Frankenstein is no exception, as he blends the classic monster with classic literature in a way no director could.
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