🍿 Who is the true monster in this story? That is the question Guillermo del Toro’s 2025 adaptation of Mary Shelley’s gothic classic Frankenstein asks and answers. Del Toro’s Frankenstein offers a fresh, new take on the timeless tale of the fanatical surgeon and his monstrous creation.

This is a story on what it means to be human — It is no horror, but a tragedy. While the film itself relishes in all things gore, with several sequences — particularly ones pertaining to human dissection — proving a little difficult to watch, it is a surprisingly emotional melodrama, supplemented by award-worthy performances from Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as his monster, and Mia Goth, whose role as Elizabeth is redefined in the adaptation.

The cold north is unforgiving, and so is Frankenstein’s monster. The film begins with a royal Danish ship on a wild goose chase for the North Pole when they find a dying Victor… and a colossal humanoid creature on a murderous rampage to get him. When the monster is temporarily stopped in his tracks, Victor begins confessing his sins — and the story of the monster’s creation — to the ship’s captain (Lars Mikkelsen), before the monster finds his way back to him again. It is then that the audience is let in on Victor’s backstory — his abusive father, his obsession with medicine, and his life-long goal to become godlike.

We witness Victor’s spiral into lunacy, the heart-breaking creation of his monster, and Victor’s subsequent attempt to destroy him. As the monster once more finds his way onto the ship, the film then shifts into the monster’s story, offering a perspective hitherto unexplored by most adaptations. Having lost all hope in this shallow half-life, he hunts down Victor, of whom he makes a singular demand, and is once again failed by his creator.

The film’s grim, cold mood, alongside stellar cinematography, make for an experience that is sure to leave its mark on one’s mind. Having received a limited run in select theatres in October, the film was released globally on Netflix earlier this month — a move we initially found mind-boggling, but soon made sense as we came to the realization that this was a film meant to be watched in solitude, lights dimmed, and snacks held close to one’s chest.

WHERE TO WATCH- You can stream Frankenstein on Netflix. Watch the trailer on YouTube (runtime: 2:23).

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