Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is not the monster you expect. It is a slow-burn tragedy about a man who refuses to see the consequences of his own ambition, and a creature who never asked to exist at all. Del Toro has spent decades trying to bring Shelley’s novel to screen, and this version finally gets the balance right: horror, romance, and moral dread, all held together by two performances that refuse to let you look away.
The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on August 30, 2025, before a limited US theatrical release on October 17 and a global Netflix drop on November 7. It runs 150 minutes, and every second earns its length.
Trailer, via Netflix.
Del Toro’s Long-Dreamed Project
Del Toro has wanted to make Frankenstein since he was a young filmmaker. He described the project as a “dream project” he had long imagined. It began at Universal Pictures, where he cast frequent collaborator Doug Jones as the Creature and considered Bernie Wrightson for the monster’s design. When Universal suspended the project in relation to its planned Dark Universe franchise, Netflix stepped in to revive it in 2023. Jacob Elordi took over the role of the Creature, and filming ran from March to September 2024.
Wrightson died in 2017, but his illustrated compilation Bernie Wrightson’s Frankenstein remained a key inspiration for the film’s look. That influence shows in the design of the Creature, a hulking, patchwork figure that feels both grotesque and human. The film also leans heavily on the novel’s original text, with Isaac playing Victor Frankenstein as a surgeon determined to create life from dead matter.
Isaac and Elordi Carry the Weight
Oscar Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein as a brilliant but egotistical scientist. His performance is a portrait of a man who believes his intellect excuses everything. He is charming, arrogant, and genuinely terrified of failure. When the experiment succeeds, Isaac does not let the audience off easy. Victor’s obsession is not heroic; it is selfish, and the film never lets him forget it.
Jacob Elordi plays the Creature as a tragic simulacrum, a being born without a name or a purpose. His performance is the film’s emotional center. The Creature is not a villain. He is a victim of Victor’s hubris, a man-shaped storm that lashes out because he has never been treated as a person. Elordi gives the creature a wounded dignity that makes his rage feel earned, not cartoonish.
The film’s central tension is not between man and monster. It is between Victor and the Creature, two beings who were made by the same hand and who now cannot live in the same world. Their scenes together are the best in the film, and they anchor a story that could easily have tipped into camp.
The Supporting Cast Holds the World Together
Mia Goth plays Elizabeth Harlander, William’s fiancée, and Baroness Claire Frankenstein, Victor’s late mother. Her dual role is a structural risk, but it pays off. As Elizabeth, she is the woman Victor secretly loves while publicly courting her sister. As Claire, she is a spectral presence who haunts the film’s early scenes, a reminder of what Victor lost and what he is willing to destroy to get back.
Christoph Waltz plays Henrich Harlander, Elizabeth’s uncle and a wealthy arms manufacturer who funds Victor’s experiments. Waltz brings a dry, amused intelligence to the role. Harlander sees Victor as a tool, and he treats him accordingly. The relationship between the two men is the film’s clearest example of the corrupting influence of power.
Felix Kammerer plays William Frankenstein, Victor’s younger brother and Elizabeth’s fiancé. Kammerer’s performance is subtle and heartbreaking. William is the normal one, the one who wants a wife and a family. He watches his brother’s experiment consume everything around him, and his grief is palpable.
Charles Dance plays Baron Leopold Frankenstein, Victor’s strict, oppressive father and a renowned physician. Dance’s portrayal is stern and unforgiving, a man who understands the cost of ambition better than anyone else in the room. His scenes with Victor are the film’s most tense, a slow-motion argument about what a father owes his son.
David Bradley plays the Blind Man, a blind old man who befriends the Creature. Bradley’s performance is gentle and humane. The Blind Man sees the Creature as a person, not a monster, and that simple act of kindness is the film’s quiet heart. His scenes with the Creature are tender and sad, a brief respite from the film’s relentless dread.
Lars Mikkelsen plays Captain Anderson, the head of a Royal Danish Navy expedition to the North Pole. Mikkelsen brings a weary authority to the role. Anderson is a man who has seen the worst of nature and the worst of humanity, and he knows which one is more dangerous. His scenes with Victor are tense, a captain who cannot understand why a doctor thinks the Arctic is a good place to test a new creation.
Nikolaj Lie Kaas plays Chief Officer Larsen, who attempts to persuade Captain Anderson of the crew’s fading strength and morale. Kaas’s performance is sharp and anxious. Larsen is a man who has been lied to, and he is not afraid to say so. His scenes with Anderson are the film’s most urgent, a captain who cannot keep his ship afloat against a madman’s plan.
Kyle Gatehouse plays the Young Hunter, the unnamed son of the Blind Man. Gatehouse’s performance is small but effective. The Young Hunter is a witness to the film’s horrors, and his fear is contagious. His scenes with the Blind Man are the film’s most grounded, a boy who does not understand why the world is falling apart.
Lauren Collins plays Alma, the Young Hunter’s wife. Collins brings a steady warmth to the role. Alma is a woman who has lived through war and plague, and she knows how to hold a family together. Her scenes with the Blind Man are the film’s most domestic, a quiet moment of normalcy in a world gone strange.
Ralph Ineson plays Professor Krempe, a professor who oversees the hearing of Victor. Ineson brings a cynical wit to the role. Krempe is a man who has seen too many doctors with grand ideas, and he is not impressed by Victor’s. His scenes with Victor are the film’s most mocking, a man who knows the truth and does not bother hiding it.
Sofia Galasso plays Anna-Maria, the granddaughter of the Blind Man and the daughter of the Young Hunter. Galasso’s performance is restrained and effective. Anna-Maria is a girl who has never left her village, and she does not know what to make of the stranger who arrives with her grandfather. Her scenes with the Creature are the film’s most innocent, a child who sees a person where everyone else sees a monster.
Burn Gorman plays an executioner from whom Victor obtains the remains of deceased criminals. Gorman’s performance is grim and professional. The executioner is a man who has done this job for years, and he does not ask questions. His scenes with Victor are the film’s most practical, a man who provides the tools and does not care about the purpose.
The Design and the Dread
The film’s visual design draws heavily on Bernie Wrightson’s work. The Creature is a patchwork of flesh, bone, and metal, a creation that looks like it was assembled in a laboratory. The film’s color palette is cold and damp, with blues and grays that suggest ice and decay. The sets are vast and claustrophobic, from the cluttered rooms of the Frankenstein household to the frozen wastes of the Arctic.
The film’s sound design is equally effective. The score swells during moments of terror, but it often recedes during quieter scenes, letting the dialogue and the silence do the work. The sound of the Creature’s footsteps is a constant threat, a slow thud that signals his approach before he appears on screen.
The film’s pacing is deliberate. It takes its time establishing Victor’s world, his family, and his obsession. This patience pays off in the second half, where the stakes are suddenly enormous. The film’s final act is a series of escalating disasters, each one worse than the last, and the film does not flinch from showing the full cost of Victor’s experiment.
The Film’s Moral Center
The film’s tagline is “Only monsters play God.” That line captures the film’s central thesis: Victor is the monster, and the Creature is the victim. The film is not interested in making the Creature sympathetic. It is interested in making him understandable. The Creature is not evil. He is a creature of habit, a being who has learned that violence is the only language people understand.
The film also explores the nature of creation. Victor creates the Creature because he wants to prove something about himself, not because he wants to help humanity. The film’s final scenes make this point with brutal clarity. The Creature is not a warning about science. He is a warning about pride.
A Tragic Story, Well Told
Frankenstein is not a perfect film. Some of the middle sections drag, and the pacing could have been tighter. The film’s supporting cast is large, and some characters feel underwritten. But the core of the film is unshakeable. Isaac and Elordi deliver career-best performances, and the film’s visual style is strikingly influenced by Wrightson’s work.
The film is a tragedy, not a horror movie. It is about the cost of ambition, the loneliness of genius, and the way families break under pressure. It is a film about a man who made a monster and a monster who became a man.
| Character | Role | Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Victor Frankenstein | Creator of the Creature | Oscar Isaac |
| The Creature | Victor’s monstrous simulacrum | Jacob Elordi |
| Elizabeth Harlander / Claire Frankenstein | William’s fiancée and Victor’s mother | Mia Goth |
| William Frankenstein | Victor’s younger brother | Felix Kammerer |
| Leopold Frankenstein | Victor’s father | Charles Dance |
| Blind Man | Friend of the Creature | David Bradley |
| Captain Anderson | Leader of the Arctic expedition | Lars Mikkelsen |
| Release Date | Format | Region |
|---|---|---|
| August 30, 2025 | Premiere | Venice International Film Festival |
| October 17, 2025 | Limited theatrical | United States |
| November 7, 2025 | Global release | Netflix |
The film’s reception has been strong. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Frankenstein is a demanding film. It asks viewers to sit with discomfort, to watch a man destroy himself and those around him. But the payoff is real. The film’s final image is a creature standing alone in the snow, a man who has become what he feared.
The film is a masterclass in tone. It is a film that knows when to be funny, when to be tender, and when to be terrifying. It is a film that respects its audience, and it rewards that respect with a story that stays with you long after the credits roll.
Frankenstein is a great film. It is not a perfect film, but it is a necessary one. It is a film that says something true about what it means to be human, and it says it with a monster that feels more alive than most people on screen. It is a film that will be remembered for years to come.
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