Guillermo del Toro set the bar really high. As a director, he is able to combine a spectacular form with an intimate story about emotions. Beautiful packaging always hides something important and valuable that goes deep under our skin. Thanks to this, the audience – and certainly me – fell in love with the Mexican director. Whenever there was a mention that he was starting a new project, my feelings were dominated by enthusiasm and curiosity.
Watching “Frankenstein” you may get the impression that del Toro fell into the trap of high expectations. He made a good film, but it was expected to be outstanding. He showed that he is a great craftsman, but the visionary element present, among others, in “Pan’s Labyrinth” was missing. And there was every reason to think it would be different. Theoretically, it’s hard to imagine someone better to adapt Mary Shelley’s novel for the screen.
The dark story of a scientist who decided to play God and, as a result of an experiment, created a living being, raises a number of topics that encourage deeper reflection: from ambition and human pride, through morality, to rejection and loneliness. However, del Toro’s narrative is quite disjointed, overloaded and skipping the surface. It lacks emotions that will engage the viewer.
We learn about history from two perspectives. The first of them belongs to Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) – a morbidly ambitious man of science who gradually gets lost in his experiment. The closer to the finale, the more mania begins to take control over reason, and the vision of success over any responsibility. The disturbing fairy tale slowly begins to turn into a horror film with elements of gore, which may be a bit problematic for a younger audience. In these sequences, del Toro does not spare our sensibilities.
This part seems to me much more interesting due to the impressive technical layer and the atmosphere accompanying the story of a scientist falling into madness. Unfortunately, Isaac is unable to convey the complexity of his hero and ultimately comes out much weaker than Jacob Elordi. The Australian actor has a lot to describe as a monster brought back to life. We quickly learn that his hero feels much more emotions than the title character. We learn about how he transformed from a fearsome monster into a sensitive person with a rather soft heart in the second part of the film. Although the stakes are high because the hero is motivated by the desire for revenge and Elordi does what he can, it lacks tension. It is tedious, and at times it even turns into a mawkish melodrama.
Del Toro created a visual gem in which he perfected literally every detail. It makes a stunning impression, especially on a cinema screen. We enter a world that is overwhelming, but in a good sense. However, I have the feeling that the Mexican director, who, like the title character, adapts subsequent elements to create a coherent whole, forgot about one thing. About the soul. And without it, “Frankenstein” won’t come to life.
6/10
“Frankenstein”dir. Guillermo del Toro, USA/Mexico 2025, streaming platform: Netflix, premiere: November 7, 2025.