Guillermo del Toro‘s Frankenstein (2025), evidently the strongest candidate to win the competition at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, brings to the forefront fundamental human elements such as pain, regret and hope in the human form, while simultaneously presenting the story of the most poetic outcast, one who navigates the limits of powerlessness, empathy and human control. Transforming a moralistic literary allegory into an almost poetic form, the film’s structure brings to life, in a Platonic manner, the image of birth trapped in a winter’s dream. While reminiscing a certain transformation within the concept of existence, it evokes not the liberation of humanity from itself but the return to itself, immortalizing in its narrative the eternal life form that comes with being human as a curse. Adapted from Mary Shelley‘s “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus“, and reworked by Guillermo del Toro, the film’s script structure and rhythm go far beyond a typical transformational narrative. Never ignoring the philosophy of the story, del Toro creates the Frankenstein myth from scratch with a clean slate, with his own unique revisions rather than a classic adaptation with radical revisions. This way, the film becomes its own Frankenstein and acquires its purest identity. Thus, the film’s narrative power derives its force not from its direct adaptation, but from its own recreated existence. The film’s shading of what might be considered didactic elements and its way of leaving the narrative alone allows the film’s flow to speak for itself. In this way, the composition voices itself within the flow while overshadowing the noise that follows.
The Marketplace of Bodies for Sale
Del Toro, who solidifies all the elements of the gothic bone structure of the original narrative by pouring concrete into the composition of the film, does not transform the human body into a gigantic monster as if it were a living corpse, but rather into a sculpture that has a say in its brutality and blood. Del Toro‘s Frankenstein will be talked about for a long time in terms of genre and will gain references, far beyond a classic horror film, with a very high poetic, romantic dynamism and the roots of the painful aspects of being human. As the director mentioned in the press conference during the festival, the structure of the film, which is about a family drama in its own way, is much darker than one might expect. Frankenstein, which has the power to get under the skin of its original story and by reaching that point of tearing it apart, it opens a huge wound under the skin. It seems that it will push every award category, especially the Oscars and the Venice Film Festival, and take home most of them. Frankenstein, a Netflix production, was shot with a total budget of $120 million. While the film’s status as a Netflix production drew criticism from classic film enthusiasts during its festival screening, the film will be shown in theaters for a total of three weeks, starting October 17th. Following this, it will be available on Netflix on November 7th. We recommend seeing the film on the big screen while you can, to me this is the only way to truly experience the film’s full cinematic universe in its most detailed and immersive form. Although labeling the movie as a Netflix production creates a negative impression towards the film, it is still a great opportunity since genre films cannot rise and make a name for themselves due to low budgets, but Frankenstein, with its blockbuster budget, expands its boundaries in the most creative and meticulous way.
The Cost of Wearing a Human Mask as a Monster
Guillermo del Toro, who mentioned Frankenstein as a film he had wanted to make since he was a kid in one of his interviews, underlines that he always had the idea of making this film in his mind for almost 30 years and that Frankenstein’s DNA was present in almost every one of his previous films. Jacob Elordi (The Monster), Oscar Isaac (Dr. Victor Frankenstein), Mia Goth (Elizabeth Lavenza), Christoph Waltz (Harlander) and Ralph Ineson (Professor Krempe), who star in the film, create a wonderful dynamism, and further enrich the structure of their original characters with their costume designs and increase the level of your viewing pleasure like a moving painting from the Renaissance period. The fantastic structure of an existence’s entire self being poured into a lost body labeled as a monster and the act of making a human from its dough creates a deep sense of grief. This form of grief bathes the innocent human state in its most brutal form, the most violent yet invisible blood. In a sense, this state of being trapped eternally within a body as a stranger, and the status of breathing with the awareness of this, leaves a different and unforgettable weight on the body, beyond the realm of classical myth. This is precisely where del Toro‘s success in the film comes from.
The Piercing Song of the Human Experience
Dan Laustsen‘s signature, which we have seen in the director’s previous films in the photography department, is deeply noticeable in this film as well. Tamara Deverell‘s touch, which creates a captivating atmosphere in terms of set design, connects the film as a whole with the inner nature of the characters. Her visually accomplished narrative and compositional style touch the deepest depths and emerge as a tribute to the classic, mythological story. Apart from this, the way Shane Vieau and Kate Hawley play with the visual accessories and give everything a vivid character without making it eclectic, shows itself as a contribution that will fascinate the audience throughout the film. We experience the drama of a flesh-and-blood human mask from a monster narrative, as natural as possible, with questioning eyes, as the creatures that make up nature, which seem to be within its own rules and leaning on its beauty, suddenly become wild in the most innocent and also violent way. This complex state of life, which seems cruel, has a normal flow on the surface, so to speak.
In this context, Jacob Elordi‘s portrayal of the character, particularly in terms of costume and makeup, is a departure from what we’ve seen in previous Frankenstein films, yet he never strays from the concept, evoking a lingering sense of pain throughout the film and beyond. This further demonstrates the film’s richly proportioned and realistically crafted makeup and costume departments. The mud-stained coffee-colored curtain of a Victorian era, draped over all the sharply drawn characters, visually paints a portrait of a dusty, oppressive atmosphere overwhelmed by the workings of the universe itself. In this context, the character of Victor Frankenstein sometimes reminds us of Dorian Gray while his mask eats him up, drowning in his own arrogance. The presence of wide-brimmed hats creates a new particularity for the characters, making them talk before they even begin to speak, and although the costumes and hats exaggerate a certain period, this is never portrayed in an excessive way. In this sense, we can say that Mia Goth, who does not have many lines compared to the other characters, gives a great performance, she definitely stands out.
Innocence as an Appetizer for Dinner
The monster was initially planned to be played by Andrew Garfield, but later, following casting changes, Jacob Elordi was brought in. Del Toro attributes this casting to the reflection of innocence in Elordi‘s gaze. His presence as an actor, a crucial part of the film’s narrative, and the profound reflection of innocence and disappointment in his look, prove to be a very good decision. These gazes, in particular, uniquely support the film’s drama and romantic relationship. Filmed in 120 days in total, Frankenstein, in a sense, follows the 120 days of the sleeping monster within us, from its birth to its setting. This film is a silent elegy dedicated to all the Frankenstein’s monsters already inside us, with roses covered in black, in the daily commemoration of this missing part of us whose funeral will never be held.
