I went into Frankenstein a little apprehensive. The online chatter had been all over the place, and I wasn’t sure which version of this movie I was walking into. But all that noise quickly disappeared almost right away.
Oscar Isaac gives a phenomenal performance as Victor Frankenstein, playing him with this manic desperation that feels equal parts brilliant and self-destructive. He’s so determined to reanimate the dead that there’s no line he won’t cross.
Isaac makes Victor both monstrous and tragic, often in the same breath.
It was also a great surprise seeing Charles Dance and Christoph Waltz pop up, even if their characters were short-lived. Their presence adds weight to the world, grounding the film early before del Toro takes us into more emotional and brutal territory.
I love that the movie is told through two flashback perspectives: the first half from Victor’s POV, and the second from the monster’s. And it’s in that second half where the film becomes something special. Jacob Elordi as the monster is the film's true standout. The amount he communicates just through his eyes, his posture, the tiny trembles in his face. It’s a masterclass. His portion of the narrative is also the most emotionally devastating, especially as he slowly learns how to think, speak, and feel with the help of a kind blind man… who is then killed by wolves. It’s brutal, intimate, and unforgettable.
Mia Goth’s Elizabeth is the only other character who truly sees the monster's humanity. She meets him with empathy rather than fear, and it gives the film a much-needed emotional anchor. But I do wish her character were more developed. We needed a little more time with her, more of her dynamic with Victor, to make her death at his hands hit even harder. It still works, but it could’ve been a knockout punch.
What really stayed with me was the monster’s arc toward forgiveness. After all the violence, death, and betrayal, the film lands on this unexpectedly tender father-son theme, not subtle, but beautifully executed.
Overall? This is easily one of my favorite movies of the year. Del Toro continues to prove he’s one of the greatest visual storytellers working today. Even when the performances veer toward the theatrical, everything, the cinematography, the set design, the costumes, the operatic tone, comes together in a way that completely works.
This is Frankenstein told with heart, horror, and true artistry.
I went into Frankenstein a little apprehensive. The online chatter had been all over the place, and I wasn’t sure which version of this movie I was walking into. But all that noise quickly disappeared almost right away.
Oscar Isaac gives a phenomenal performance as Victor Frankenstein, playing him with this manic desperation that feels equal parts brilliant and self-destructive. He’s so determined to reanimate the dead that there’s no line he won’t cross.
Isaac makes Victor both monstrous and tragic, often in the same breath.
It was also a great surprise seeing Charles Dance and Christoph Waltz pop up, even if their characters were short-lived. Their presence adds weight to the world, grounding the film early before del Toro takes us into more emotional and brutal territory.
I love that the movie is told through two flashback perspectives: the first half from Victor’s POV, and the second from the monster’s. And it’s in that second half where the film becomes something special. Jacob Elordi as the monster is the film's true standout. The amount he communicates just through his eyes, his posture, the tiny trembles in his face. It’s a masterclass. His portion of the narrative is also the most emotionally devastating, especially as he slowly learns how to think, speak, and feel with the help of a kind blind man… who is then killed by wolves. It’s brutal, intimate, and unforgettable.
Mia Goth’s Elizabeth is the only other character who truly sees the monster's humanity. She meets him with empathy rather than fear, and it gives the film a much-needed emotional anchor. But I do wish her character were more developed. We needed a little more time with her, more of her dynamic with Victor, to make her death at his hands hit even harder. It still works, but it could’ve been a knockout punch.
What really stayed with me was the monster’s arc toward forgiveness. After all the violence, death, and betrayal, the film lands on this unexpectedly tender father-son theme, not subtle, but beautifully executed.
Overall? This is easily one of my favorite movies of the year. Del Toro continues to prove he’s one of the greatest visual storytellers working today. Even when the performances veer toward the theatrical, everything, the cinematography, the set design, the costumes, the operatic tone, comes together in a way that completely works.
This is Frankenstein told with heart, horror, and true artistry.
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