Frankenstein

Hey everyone, and welcome. Today, we will be talking about the film Frankenstein. Fun Fact: The design of Frankenstein is inspired in part by Bernie Wrightson. Bernie illustrated Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and worked on plenty of other Horror Comics and co-created Swamp Thing. This film came out in 2025 and stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, and Mia Goth, and was directed by Guillermo Del Toro. So without further ado, let's get right into it.
 

Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, who creates a creature from the remains of dead people.

Frankenstein is a book adaptation that is hauntingly beautiful, but also shows how sometimes humans meddle in things they know little about. It has similar vibes to Crimson Peak, Penny Dreadful, or Jurassic Park.

Guillermo Del Toro is one of my favorite directors because he always does something cool with creatures, and the designs in his films always feel fresh. I'm familiar with Frankenstein and his monster, but I haven't read the book, so I was going in a little blind, but the cast was filled with heavy hitters, so I was excited. The movie is split into two parts, which at first I didn’t understand, but one is Victor Frankenstein's life and his version of events, and the other is the creature’s version. I was happy that they did this because it was interesting to see how they got to the point where they were both on this boat, and not only how their stories were intertwined, but also why they hated each other.

Oscar Isaac leads the film as Victor Frankenstein, and it was so interesting to see him create this monster. Christian Convery plays a younger version, and he also did a great job of showing how all the traumatic events of his childhood led him to where he is. Frankenstein is a man who, from a very young age, was taught the importance of education and what it could achieve, but he was also conditioned to learn that failure had consequences, and from his dad's perspective, that meant pain by getting hit with a cane or some sort of stick. He was very close to his mom until she died in childbirth, which seems to loom over him because he couldn't do anything about it.  It's interesting to see how his childhood influences him later in adulthood when he pushes the boundaries within science by using his research to prove that what they thought was impossible is possible. When he does succeed with the creature, he uses his dad's form of violence to attempt to teach the creature, but all it can say is his name. Victor acts as if he is god and creates this creature, but writes it off as dumb and discards it, and later, when it chases him, he realizes he made a mistake treating it like an abomination, and it may now cost him his life. The way the film included his background in science really had me thinking him creating this creature was possible. Victor is a great display of how humans can be so evil and then try to justify themself and their evilness while trying to manipulate people

Guillermo mentioned he cast with the eyes because you can see inner thoughts and emotions, and you can truly tell in this movie. You can see the need for pushing boundaries and excitement with Frankenstein, but also his impatience, the warmth and worry from Elizabeth, and the innocence of the newborn creature. I love how looking into the eyes of the characters really drives home what some of their goals or wants are. Seeing them being able to show so much with their eyes and facial expressions really had me immersed.

Jacob Elordi plays the creature, and he surprised me from the makeup design to his voice. He is brought into this world without asking, treated like an abomination, and left to die when his master tries to hide evidence of what he created. I loved seeing how, once outside the castle and away from Frankenstein, he learned so much by being in nature and coming across a gentle old man who introduced books to him. He learned how to care, protect, and more about himself while also seeing the dark side of the world, especially humans who destroy so much that they don’t understand. He was born innocent, and we see over the course of the film that the experiences he faces make him realize life isn't all good because of how people will treat you. He is the definition of don't judge a book by its cover.  He's pretty much indestructible and strong, which comes in handy when dealing with other creatures who aim to threaten him or someone he loves. He's a gentle giant, but people don’t understand and often see him as a threat before they even try to interact with him. His movements at the beginning of the film really felt like a baby born into an adult body due to him being so calm and trying to understand everything, like what a berry is, and interacting with other non-harmful creatures. As we move through his life, he moves with more intent on his target and is aware of how cruel people can be and how dangerous animals can be too, so sometimes, instead of him wondering if they will try and hurt him, he stops them before they can. His story is sad because it shows how he was created for scientific purposes, not with the intent to have him survive and be loved.

The film had some beautiful cinematography to truly showcase how beautiful and scary the world is. I thought the use of light was great, considering that at this time, light at night or in dark places would be coming from candles. The cinematography helps immerse us even more because we see how simple everything looks, and vast lands expand without all these buildings. I feel like there's a lot of red, blue, and green in the movie. Green is usually a symbol of life or resurrection, blue can represent honesty and peace but also depression and predictability, and red can be passion, sacrifice, or danger. I think the colors were specific due to the film's subject matter of the creation of this monster, the sacrifices made in this creation, but also after, whether they be accidental or not, and the emotional coldness from the creature's creator and his feeling alone. There are a lot of close-up shots that let you sit with the character and read their emotions, but also wide shots that let you see the area that we will be spending time in. All of this really helps to feel like I have been transported to this time period.

The time period was perfect to show how there's so much work to find all the information, and then finding the right location and time to do the experiment, and how you don’t have a lot of chances to do it, so it needs to be precise. It's also great for the film to be set in this period because this experiment seems so outrageous and wild, but back in this time period, it may not have been, because of the past with alchemy. I think before physicians and chemist got their names, you saw everything just labeled under alchemy, and they really pushed the boundaries of experimentation. I think it's important to show, even if this story isn't real, because some crazy experiments led to monumental discoveries in the field of science, but of course, it could be controversial due to it not being ethical.

The outfits were beautiful and really caught my eye. I loved seeing Mia in that Blue number, but also seeing the creature in his outfit, which you could clearly tell were stolen or hand-me-down clothes. You could tell the importance of people from their clothes, but you could also tell when people started putting less thought into their clothing because they had a monster they created coming after them.

Mia gave such a lovely performance as Victor's mom and Elizabeth. I didn’t even realize until after the movie that she plays both characters, but she did great, and the common theme between the two was their ability to be so loving and kind. Victor really cared for his mother and enjoyed time with her, and it was interesting to see how he didn’t seem to keep many of her characteristics. Elizabeth, from the beginning, is different because she studies insects, and then when she meets the monster, she sees him as a being with a soul that shouldn’t be treated as some prisoner. I kind of felt like it was the oppressed feeling for the oppressed, and due to her fascination with insects, which are considered weird, I think she didn’t feel threatened by the creature and saw him as misunderstood and abused. It was sad that Elizabeth was trying to protect the creature and was killed, and Victor used her as a means to get people to hate the creature even more. I love that there were parallels between Elizabeth and Victor's mom, but also differences, considering Elizabeth had a certain disdain for Victor.

Guillermo always includes cool monsters or creatures. I love the angel of death in this movie, which is normally a statue, but in Victor's dream, it is like an actual creature, and it doesn’t say much, but it seems like a warning. There isn't a clear explanation of what it is, but it seems like it was a reminder that you shouldn’t play god.

There was a giant hole in the experiment room that seemed mighty dangerous because you could slip close to it and fall, and I was unsure where it went. Later, when Henrich is trying to stop Victor, he falls down it and hits his head, killing him, which was a shock for me because I thought maybe I was overreacting. It's crazy that Victor hides the fact that Henrich is dead, considering he funded this experiment.

Looking back on the film, the thing that stuck out to me, which is my favorite part of the film, was the line" You may be my creator, but from this day forward, I'm your master". The delivery is chilling but also well delivered. It's interesting because up to that part, we haven't heard the creature say much, but then he says this line, which is not only scary but also shows how far he has come in terms of knowledge and understanding. Everything he has gone through has been because of Victor, and I thought it was great that he decided to take control since Victor had created him and influenced so much negativity in his very short life. It was perfect line delivery, as well as the cinematography in the scene, which led to the scene being so chilling.

Frankenstein is a marvelous movie that is a visual spectacle filled with some great performances. The score, cinematography, and costumes are also of note and really help immerse you in this time period. Guillermo did such a great job with this movie, and one thing I'd say is if you can see it in theatres, watch it there because it's great on the screen