‘Frankenstein’ (2025) Netflix Movie Review - Guillermo del Toro Gives You A Dud

Guillermo del Toro — the lover of creepy spirits, uncanny creatures, dark beasts, and ghosts — warms up to the most famous monster of all time by approaching Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. When a del Toro production works, it sucks us into a mysterious, spiritual, fantastical world where otherworldly creatures blend with the humans, creating a stunning, exciting dark fantasy atmosphere. When a del Toro production bombs, we are merely left feasting on visually appealing images that seem superficial at best. They don't sustain our interest for long. The new Frankenstein, alas, belongs to this second category of Del Toro's productions. Its Gothic images remind you of fantasy video games; they are devoid of passion and madness. They feel like airbrushed comic-book images generated by AI software. Del Toro overdecorates his frames with grisly elements (peeled skin, exposed bones, loose flesh), but he can't conjure a sense of giddiness. The sights and sounds in Frankenstein don't leave you ecstatic — del Toro's direction is tediously studious.

Del Toro, the writer-director, takes some creative liberties with Shelley's text, but his film is still quite close to the novel. These tweaks, however, don't significantly work in del Toro's favor. Lady Elizabeth Harlander (Mia Goth), for instance, is William's (Felix Kammerer) fiancée here, not Victor's (Oscar Isaac). By casting Goth as both Elizabeth and Claire (Victor's mother), del Toro highlights Victor's deprivation of love and warmth from the women he deeply cared for (Claire dies when William is born). This decision, in theory, seems powerful, but when you watch the film, you think that the story would have had the same effect on you had Claire been played by another actor. Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), Elizabeth's uncle, attends one of Victor's lectures, where he exhibits his experiment to an enthusiastic young crowd and to old, conservative, god-fearing professors, and is fascinated by his ambitions. Henrich decides to offer unlimited resources to Victor for his scientific project, which helps the latter in "giving birth to" the Creature (Jacob Elordi). But during that famous, crucial moment — the moment where metal rods are erected during the stormy weather to infuse life into the corpse — Henrich reveals the real reason behind helping Victor. Henrich, dying of syphilis, wants to be transferred into the new body; he wants to be healthy, alive, immortal. Again, without this revelation, this addition, and the fatal incident that occurs a few minutes later, Frankenstein would still have remained the film it is now. Henrich's fate has no great effect on the story itself. He is merely a catalyst, a device that helps move the plot forward.

The biggest mistake del Toro makes is that he tries to present a Gothic romance mixed with elements of science fiction. He does sufficiently well in the sci-fi department, with nerdy discussions and gory images. Delicate music is played when Victor cuts the limbs and peels the skin to construct his monster. Del Toro revels in blood and physical violence, which is why the action sequences have a joy that's missing from the emotional moments. And the movie, unfortunately, is packed with many emotional moments that are flat and that land with a thud. Del Toro, in fact, wants to create an emotional experience without dipping his toes into any emotion. When Victor's mother dies, we don't see him grieving for her. Del Toro simply moves ahead to plant the seed of his death-defying ambitions. When Elizabeth rejects Victor's feelings for her and leaves his house, we don't see Victor reflecting on the event. The movie, instead, cuts to his Eureka moment. And when Victor finally provides life to his creation, we just get a shot of him sitting on the stairs with a smile — a shot that lasts no more than probably five seconds.
 

The movie, after a point, shifts to the Creature's perspective, where we see him secretly watching an old blind man (David Bradley) and his family members. This entire segment falls into a state of visual stupor. Nothing clicks; nothing registers. I think even del Toro knows that this particular act is a bum, which is why he throws in wolves for a bloodbath. This again proves that del Toro's interest lies more towards executing scenes of violence. He literally makes the blood flow to give his film a sense of liveliness. What's more, del Toro's emotional, psychological incuriosity once again becomes apparent when he fails to inquire what the Creature thinks about the books he devours. Does he find a writing style more appealing? Does he discover a favorite book or author? For del Toro, the characters are merely pawns posing theatrically in costumes against an artificial-looking, screensaver-worthy background. There is one lively, witty scene, however, and it arrives when Victor poses as a priest to hear Elizabeth's confession. Then again, it works due to the performances (Goth reminds you of that Johannes Vermeer painting — Girl with a Pearl Earring). The actors do their best to lift this dud, but del Toro's sedulous earnestness saps the film of wonder, imagination, and cinematic fervor. Del Toro's Frankenstein is torpid. By the end, you might want to log out of Netflix and embrace the sunlight, like the Creature. Compared to the movie's decorative artifice, the real world feels more alive, vibrant, and impassioned. 

Final Score- [4/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times