I’m hoping that Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein could be the director’s magnum opus – and one of the best films produced by Netflix.
The hubristic scientist and his creation emerged from Mary Shelley’s imagination, nourished by reports of fascinating inventions and tales of grim experiments conducted by German alchemists. To liven up a holiday in Geneva, where the writer and her friends spent the rainy summer of 1818, these inspirations blossomed into a timeless story that’s still influencing artists today.
In turn, del Toro’s adaptation grew out of his childhood fascination with James Whale’s Frankenstein movie. Centred on his vision of the creature as an innocent, gentle being rather than a terrifying monster, del Toro dreamed for decades of bringing his Frankenstein to the screen.
It finally became possible thanks to Netflix. The result of this collaboration will first be judged at the Venice Film Festival, where the film will debut on 30 August 2025. However, we can already point to three things that could make Frankenstein both an artistic and financial success.
If you want to learn more about the cast and the plot, check out our guide to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.
1. A fresh interpretation of a classic tale
In our era of rapidly developing AI, the novel’s exploration of the consequences of unchecked scientific ambition seems like an obvious theme to highlight. It’s more often than not what previous adaptations have focused on. However, Guillermo del Toro wouldn’t be himself if he followed the path laid out by others. The Mexican director planned his Frankenstein film not as a horror about the dangers of scientific progress, but as a story of generational trauma.
When interviewed by Variety, del Toro noted:
In my movie, it is about the lineage of familial pain. (…) “Frankenstein” is a song of the human experience. It’s the story of a father and a son. (…)
The usual discourse of “Frankenstein” has to do with science gone awry. But for me, it’s about the human spirit. It’s not a cautionary tale: It’s about forgiveness, understanding and the importance of listening to each other.
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In his 2022 film Pinocchio, which shares many similarities with the story of Frankenstein and his monster, del Toro beautifully reinterpreted the novel while maintaining its distinctive features. While Carlo Collodi’s book about a wooden boy preaches against disobedience as a disruptive force, del Toro praises it as a weapon against totalitarianism.
The key to Pinocchio’s success turned out to be subtlety and humanism. If del Toro retells Frankenstein with equal sensibility – not by turning the story upside down, but by drawing out its less obvious details – we could be in for the most heart-wrenching fantasy of recent years.
2. Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi are bringing their A-game
Actors are the ones that breathe life into a film script – and when it comes to casting, del Toro has made some unexpected, yet thoughtful choices.
Oscar Isaac’s career has ranged from appearances in arthouse productions such as Inside Llewyn Davis and Ex Machina, to roles in Star Wars and Dune. However, the role of Victor Frankenstein could be one of the most important of his career. In del Toro’s take, Frankenstein isn’t just a scientist – he is an artist and a celebrity, “a Byronic rock star”, who’ll need to seduce the audience.
Jacob Elordi, who plays the monster, is sure to generate even more buzz. For the Euphoria breakout star, who combines the looks of an old-school movie star with a talent for playing ambiguous characters, the role will be a massive test. Elordi will have to convey the tragedy of the monster, while hidden beneath layers of makeup, transforming him into a creature stitched together from fragments of corpses.
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While Oscar Isaac was involved with the film from the very beginning, Jacob Elordi inherited the role from Andrew Garfield, who had to drop out after scheduling conflicts. Del Toro then chose the Australian actor, delighted by his performance in Saltburn. However, he made it clear that the part of Frankenstein’s monster would be unlike any thing he’d done before. According to Elordi, del Toro told him: “This is the sacrament. You need to get into a holy state.”
Frankenstein features a number of fantastic character actors, such as Mia Goth, Charles Dance and Christoph Waltz, to name a few, but it’s Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi who’ll define the film. The fresh takes on these familiar characters have a lot of potential – and, if it works out, their performances in the movie could secure them both nominations for the most prestigious film awards.
3. It’s all real sets and effects: there’s no CGI or AI
If there’s one thing Guillermo del Toro is known for more than his love of monsters, it’s his affection for real film sets. When creating Frankenstein, his long-standing dream, this proved to be extremely meaningful – $120 million of the production budget was spent on set design, props, and makeup.
The director explained to Variety:
It’s extremely important for me to keep the reality of film craft alive. I want real sets. I don’t want digital. I don’t want AI. I don’t want simulation. I want old fashioned craftsmanship. I want people painting, building, hammering, plastering. I go in and paint props myself. I supervise the construction of the sets. There is an operatic beauty when you build everything by hand.
As added by Elordi:
Guillermo would say, “This is ‘The Last of the Fucking Mohicans.’ He was like, ‘You won’t see another set like this again.”
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In a world where generating photos and videos is within reach of the average internet user, and film studios don’t only depend on CGI but are starting to turn to AI, Frankenstein should feel real and grounded. While Hollywood values speed, ease, and low costs, del Toro makes his movie one of the last bastions of the filmmaking art.
What’s more, it feels like del Toro’s fascination with constructing a film set has much in common with Victor Frankenstein’s obsession for creating a life out of dead components. In both cases, dead elements are carefully selected and merged, transforming into a somewhat living creature. The mad scientist’s goal was to beat death – it feels like del Toro’s aim is to stop the decay of cinematic craft.
In this case, it’s even sadder that Frankenstein will have only a limited, three-week theatrical run. The film will premiere in selected cinemas on October 17, before hitting Netflix on November 7. It means that most viewers will witness wonders intended for a big screen and collective experience alone on a small home device.
Netflix
This strategy seems like part of Netflix’s broader philosophy, which Ted Sarandos, the CEO for the streaming giant, articulated in April 2025 in an interview with Time Magazine (via Variety):
We’re in a period of transition. Folks grew up thinking, ‘I want to make movies on a gigantic screen and have strangers watch them [and to have them] play in the theater for two months and people cry and sold-out shows’ … It’s an outdated concept.
