Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ is Freakishly Fantastical

“Only monsters play God.”

The tagline for Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” reanimates centuries-old debates on the nature of humankind’s relation to their creations — the same which led Mary Shelley to pen her 1818 classic, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.”

The film itself — sweeping, romantic and devastating — does Shelley’s gothic novel justice, expanding upon themes of ambition and immortality with del Toro’s signature fantastical flair. 

The latest entry in a long lineage of “Frankenstein” adaptations arrived in select theaters Oct. 17 and will release on Netflix Nov. 7. Del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Shape of Water”) put the studio’s heaping $120 million check to good use, bringing Shelley’s well-worn narrative new life with marvelously massive scale.  

Much like the 19th century Western scientific world which acts as the film’s setting, viewers meet Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) situated on the furthest boundary of exploration. Near the North Pole, the doctor is discovered by a group of expeditioners at the bottom of his Promethean fall and begins to share his cautionary tale. 

Backdropped by meticulously detailed and grand sets, Frankenstein’s tragic upbringing unfolds as his beloved mother (Mia Goth) dies while birthing his brother, William. Left to the care of his cold, scientifically-minded aristocrat dad, Frankenstein becomes obsessed with pushing his father’s field of surgery to its limits in efforts to eliminate the root of his own suffering and what he believes is the world’s — death itself.

Catapulted forward by grief, an adult Frankenstein appears engulfed in his own chaos, inciting disruptions in his scholarly circles as he single-mindedly drives his exploits in reanimation.

Isaac (“Dune,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) injects the doctor’s dark characterization with a frenetic energy, depicting his descent into madness as more of a pitiful scrambling upward to Godlike heights of hubris. 

The arrival of William (Felix Kammerer), his fiancè Elizabeth (Goth) and original financier character Henrich Harlander (Christopher Waltz) to Frankenstein’s workspace kicks his plans to conquer death into high gear.

While the introduction of these characters sets into motion Frankenstein’s grotesque body-building process, it also highlights the romanticism of Shelley’s novel often overlooked by popular horror iterations that reduce themes of self-actualization and isolation to “green monster bad.”

Goth’s (“Pearl,” “EMMA.”) performances in her dual roles are intimate, impassioned and integral to the success of the film — and not to mention intriguing in the Freudian sense. Her billowing costumes capitalize off the extremist scale of the movie, portraying a beauty fit for the big screen.

The imaginative, vivid quality of Victorian sets and the gruesome, gory mess Frankenstein makes in the creation of his monster demonstrate two potentials of human creation — the production of beauty and the production of destruction.

Destruction in the film isn’t innately at the hand of Frankenstein’s creature (Jacob Elordi), though, despite what the vilification of him in pop culture might suggest.

Born on a crucifix-like stake via lightning strike and baptized into the outside world by fire, Frankenstein’s mad creation shines in the film’s second half — largely due to Elordi’s empathetic performance.

Spurned by his creator — who was himself scorned by his father — the creature’s journey to self-realization is deeply human as Elordi’s (“Euphoria,” “Saltburn”) puppy-dog eyes and curious movements evoke an innocence that calls to question his designation as inhuman and villain.

The creature’s kindred connection with Elizabeth is a humanizing addition to the story, his first experience of love making his social rejection and confrontations with human violence all the more harrowing. 

With venturesome cinematography, rich religious allegories and natural dialectic exposition, the film’s heart beats with invigorating investigations of the numerous themes Shelley’s classic interrogates, including solitude, human responsibility and the limits to the pursuit of scientific knowledge. 

This is the fundamental brilliance of del Toro’s film — it’s alive.

“Frankenstein,” rated R, is in select theaters now and will be available to stream on Netflix Nov. 7.