Frankenstein Review (Netflix): Guillermo del Toro signs a monster film with a big heart

Two years after his Pinocchio in stop motion, Guillermo del Toro continues his collaboration with Netflix for a very personal adaptation of Mary Shelley’s illustrious novel, available from November 7 on the streaming platform.

A project that the Mexican filmmaker has been carrying with him for almost 20 years and which today explodes on the screen in a stunning fresco of beauty, but also uneven. Here is our review of Frankensteinguaranteed without spoilers.

The story of the film

Eastern Europe in the 19th century. Brilliant but tormented scientist Victor Frankenstein embarks on a self-centered quest to create life. This results in the advent of a monstrous experiment and a creature whose very existence raises questions about what it means to be human.

Our review

Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus is undoubtedly one of the books most adapted to cinema, and its creature a true pop culture icon. In addition to James Whale’s emblematic version of 1931, Mary Shelley’s work published in 1818 notably saw the famous rereadings of Mel Brooks (Frankenstein Junior1974) or Kenneth Branagh (1994). But Guillermo del Toro’s version which reaches us today undoubtedly appears the most obvious of all.

Since the start of his career in the 1980s, the director has established his universe full of tales, monsters and wonders, and has redrawn the contours of the fantasy genre with magnificent films such as Chronos, The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth et The Shape of Water. It was therefore not surprising to see the filmmaker tackle his own version of Frankenstein.

Because this new adaptation is both very close to the spirit of Mary Shelley’s epistolary novel and a del Toro film in its own right, at the crossroads of his references and obsessions. The result is a unique proposition, a Frankenstein which we have never seen like this before.

We have to start with the obvious: the film is insanely beautiful. From the first seconds, the artistic direction is a real feast for the senses and seems to have optimized each of the 120 million dollars of the budget. From the rich sets to the detailed costumes, including the deliciously macabre iconography and the music of Alexandre Desplat, this Frankenstein is dizzyingly rich.

While romantic, del Toro mixes his deliciously gothic tale universe sometimes with the work of the illustrator Bernie Wrightson (from whom he borrows images as they are), sometimes with the romanticism of the poet John Milton (Paradise Lost). Spectators who are fans of the gentleman will therefore be in heaven, even if those tired of his usual pomposity will undoubtedly tire out more quickly.

Especially since the filmmaker, as if he wanted to make the most of his long years of gestation, puts a lot of things into his film, even if it means bloating it in places, especially in terms of narration. In particular, he gives (too) long development to the character of Victor Frankenstein played by Oscar Isaac, and to the weaving of his traumas and obsessions.

By wanting to stick as closely as possible to the original material, by adding his own (and numerous) questions about paternity, filiation, human pride and his love of watches, del Toro thus delivers a work that is certainly coherent, but also sometimes uneven.

Frankenstein thus suffers from this laborious first hour with Victor Frankenstein, which could chill more than one spectator, even before the creation of the monster arrives. Fortunately, the film opens wide as soon as it changes point of view and borrows that of the creature played by Jacob Elordi.

The feature film thus shifts into a more philosophical and existential fable, going to the heart of Mary Shelley’s novel and also summoning the Candide by Voltaire. Frankenstein then takes on all its power and carries us away in its poetry until a superb ending that leaves tears in our eyes. In the role of the creature, Jacob Elordi (Euphoria, Priscilla, Saltburn) impresses with nuances and physicality, and finds here one of the great roles of his young career.

Despite its flaws, this Frankenstein is therefore a magnificent success, one of the great films of the end of 2025. Guillermo del Toro finally brings his dream to life and Netflix can add a new jewel to its crown of quality works, signed by immense filmmakers.

Frankenstein is available on the Netflix streaming platform on Friday November 7, 2025.

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