There comes a point in many directors’ careers when making a sprawling passion project seems to be the natural progression. For Francis Ford Coppola, it was the tumultuous “Megalopolis.” For Steven Spielberg, it was the autobiographical “The Fabelmans.” And now, for three-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro, that career-defining victory lap arrives with “Frankenstein” (2025). The most recent entry into a canon of adaptations that ranges from James Whale’s 1931 original to Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedic spin, Del Toro’s version is a sturdy yet relatively risk-averse take on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel.
Given that he’s made a career on the grandeur of films like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Pacific Rim,” it’s no surprise that Del Toro opens his film with a set piece. An explosion is heard near an icebound ship, and after a few moments the infamous creature (Jacob Elordi) emerges. He terrorizes the crew briefly, but he’s truly after one man: his creator, Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac).
Luckily for the audience, the creature is kept at bay just long enough for Isaac’s character to recount his life story to the ship’s captain (Lars Mikkelsen). It begins with a young Victor (Christian Convery), a boy who lives a bourgeois lifestyle yet is treated poorly by his father (Charles Dance), who favors his younger brother William (Rafe Harwood). This dull early section functions to provide tedious yet necessary exposition, its main purpose being to set up the arrival of Harlander (Christoph Waltz). Waltz’s character is an ambitious businessman who, impressed by Victor’s lecture-hall display — strikingly reminiscent of Willem Dafoe’s medical showmanship in “Poor Things” — agrees to bankroll Dr. Frankenstein’s experiments. Waltz, as cunning as he is aspirational, makes for a strong and steady counterpart to Isaac’s mania.
Even before the monster comes to fruition as Frankenstein’s tormentor, the doctor’s personal life begins to present its own set of challenges. Though he makes efforts to smooth things over with William (Felix Kammerer as the adult version of the character continues to be aloof and irritating), the two brothers eventually come into conflict over William’s fiancée Elizabeth (Mia Goth). It’s something like love at first sight for Victor, but the film struggles to give us anything to latch onto in his bond with Elizabeth, a character frustratingly underused and left more as a plot device than as a partner.
As soon as Elordi’s character takes his first breath, so too is new life injected into Del Toro’s film. The construction of Frankenstein’s lab and the creature’s creation showcase Del Toro’s vision most clearly: The set design is stunning — Del Toro’s heavily-publicized insistence on practical sets over green screen and artificial intelligence seems merited here — and aided by sharp directing and Alexandre Desplat’s fervent score, the film finally begins to build momentum.
Similarly, once the narrative shifts from Frankenstein’s personal struggles to the broader consequences of his actions, the film grows far more compelling. A bildungsroman of the strangest proportions, watching the creature find his footing — sometimes literally — is both charming and dramatically fascinating. Despite his heavily altered appearance — so convincing it’s hard to imagine the role was originally intended for Andrew Garfield — Elordi brings remarkable emotional depth to a character often dismissed as little more than an incubus.
It is here, too, that the digital sheen of the film’s cinematography that dominates its first half is mitigated by Del Toro’s vision of sweeping snowy landscapes and shadows that speak to the monster’s desolation.
But to pinpoint his larger aim with “Frankenstein” (2025) is no easy task. It is a work of aesthetic ambition, yet its philosophy is disproportionately moderated. Of course, there is plenty to work with in Shelley’s original tale; her work echoes Milton’s “Paradise Lost” — after all, the danger of playing God is a story that never grows old. Although offering an impressively faithful adaptation of the source material — it mirrors Whale’s 1931 original closely enough to serve as a historical marker of cinematic technology — “Frankenstein” (2025) struggles to bring fresh ideas to one of cinema’s most retold stories.
In Del Toro’s own words, bringing Frankenstein’s monster back to life was “the culmination of a journey that has occupied most of [his] life.” Given this burning desire, it’s somewhat surprising to see the director pull so many punches after finally getting the opportunity to make his project. Gone, it seems, are the fantastical worlds of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and even his recent animated “Pinocchio,” which show Del Toro as a true visionary. And while “Frankenstein” (2025) is by no means a futile exercise, one can’t help but wonder if the distinctive mysticism of Del Toro’s earlier work could have been more fully realized here.
“Frankenstein” (2025) premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and is slated for a limited U.S. theatrical release via Netflix on Oct. 17.
