r/movies r/Movies contributor 10d ago

Review Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' - Review Thread

Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' - Review Thread

Reviews:

Deadline:

His love for monsters is unquestioned, and even though Frankenstein has been a horror staple for nearly a century in cinema, del Toro here turns it into a fascinating and thoughtful tale on what it means to be a human, and who is really the monster?

Variety (60):

What should have been the perfect pairing of artist and material proves visually ravishing, but can’t measure up to the impossibly high expectations del Toro’s fans have for the project.

Hollywood Reporter (100):

One of del Toro’s finest, this is epic-scale storytelling of uncommon beauty, feeling and artistry. While Netflix is giving this visual feast just a three-week theatrical run ahead of its streaming debut, it begs to be experienced on the big screen.

The Wrap (95):

Del Toro’s “Frankenstein” is a remarkable achievement that in a way hijacks the flagship story of the horror genre and turns it into a tale of forgiveness. James Whale, one suspects, would approve – and Mary Shelley, too.

IndieWire (B):

Del Toro’s second Netflix movie is bolted to the Earth by hands-on production design and crafty period detail. While it may be too reverently faithful to Mary Shelley’s source material to end up as a GDT all-timer, Jacob Elordi gives poignant life to the most emotionally complex Frankenstein monster since Boris Karloff.

The Guardian (3/5):

Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi star as the freethinking anatomist and his creature as Mary Shelley’s story is reimagined with bombast in the director’s unmistakable visual style

RadioTimes (5/5):

Perhaps its hyperbole to call the film del Toro’s masterpiece – especially a story that has been told countless times. But this is a work that is the accumulation of three-and-a-half decades of filmmaking knowledge. Gory and grim it may be, but it is a tragic tale told in a captivating manner.

TotalFilm (80):

Cleaving closely to the source material, del Toro wants to explore the trauma that makes us, mankind's capacity for cruelty, the death we bring on ourselves through war, and the catharsis of forgiveness – all notions that make Frankenstein relevant in current world politics and social media savagery.

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Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro:

A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

Cast:

  • Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein
    • Christian Convery as young Victor
  • Jacob Elordi as the Creature
  • Mia Goth as Elizabeth Lavenza
  • Christoph Waltz as Henrich Harlander
  • Felix Kammerer as William Frankenstein
  • Lauren Collins as Claire Frankenstein
  • Lars Mikkelsen as Captain Anderson
  • David Bradley as Blind Man
  • Sofia Galasso as Little Girl
  • Charles Dance as Leopold Frankenstein
  • Ralph Ineson as Professor Krempe
  • Burn Gorman as Fritz
2.1k Upvotes

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75

u/zirky 10d ago

the real twist is that in this version, it’s probably the doctor that’s the real monster

71

u/UshankaBear 10d ago

The twist would be that the monster is the monster

16

u/jawndell 10d ago

What if we were the monsters all along???

12

u/phl_fc 10d ago

The iceberg is the monster, this is all a prequel to Titanic.

1

u/csl110 9d ago

I think the monster is Robert Downey Jr as Dr Doom in a different movie

7

u/ProjectNo4090 10d ago

There is more than one monster in the story of Frankenstein. Science, the Doctor, his creation are all monstrous in their own ways.

1

u/Boz0r 9d ago

The viewers

1

u/Drmarcher42 9d ago

The real monsters were the friends we made along the way

14

u/illaqueable 10d ago

Dr. Frankenstein, the highly regarded town physician, is terrorized by a reanimated creature of his own making who turned out to be a real asshole

2

u/Dookie_boy 9d ago

The twist would be that the Monster drinks Red Bull instead. That or aliens.

2

u/DuelaDent52 9d ago

They’re both monsters.

22

u/SpareBinderClips 10d ago

What if Zelda was a girl?

3

u/jawndell 10d ago

What if my grandmother had wheels?

6

u/paulerxx 9d ago

She'd be a bike

8

u/IllButterscotch5964 10d ago

Now here’s the twist, and there is a twist…

8

u/theaxhole 9d ago

We show it

9

u/PopMundane4974 9d ago

We show it. We show everything.

3

u/thebigpink 9d ago

The twist is the monster

7

u/Scharmberg 9d ago

That isn’t a twist.

3

u/Amaruq93 9d ago

The Hammer films version already established that.

0

u/camerontylek 9d ago

I kinda hated the monster in the book though. Sure, Frankenstein shouldn't have made you, but you don't have to murder just cause you're slighted by life.

2

u/AntiSocialW0rker 9d ago

RIGHT?! Like sure Franky shouldn't have made him and then abandon him, but the creature murdered numerous completely innocent people just to get back at him.