January 1, 1818 was the date that 19 year old Mary Shelley brought her very own gothic fiction novel, Frankenstein, to life. Published under an anonymous persona, the novel focused on a young scientist of the name Victor Frankenstein, who after much trial and error was able to scientifically create a sentient creature but later became horrified by his own creation.
Throughout the novel “The Creature” seeks revenge on Victor Frankenstein for abandoning him in a society that doesn’t accept him, with Shelley focusing on The Creature’s struggles for the majority of the book. During its time, Shelley received mixed reviews on her novel, with some critics praising its vivid imagination while others dismissing it as absurd. Despite the reaction, Frankenstein received theatrical adaptations shortly after the initial novel was published, leading to the immediate popularity of the story and Shelley removing her anonymous persona from the cover of her story to take a rightful claim to her idea.
Even though Frankenstein already has numerous film adaptations, filmmaker and director Guillermo Del Toro wanted to put his own twist on the classic novel. During his childhood, Del Toro had an obsession with Frankenstein, but specifically with Boris Karloff’s portrayal of The Creature in the 1931 film. Drawn to its strange beauty and tragedy, Del Toro knew he had to make his own adaption of The Creature’s story, and on October 17, 2025 his version of Frankenstein had hit select theaters across the country.
Running in at 2 hours and 9 minutes, Del Toro’s Frankenstein ensured to have a star studded cast. To start, Golden Globe recipient Oscar Isaac was chosen to portray Dr. Victor Frankenstein in this adaptation. Throughout the movie Dr. Frankenstein is telling the story of his life and the dangerous consequences he faced after making The Creature, and there is no doubt that Isaac truly made the audience feel immersed in the story as well as his character. Moving forward, actress Mia Goth, best known for her work in the horror movie Pearl and who is set to star in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026), plays the role of Victor Frankenstein’s mother as well as Elizabeth Lavenza in Del Toro’s adaptation.
In the first initial minutes of the movie, Goth looks almost unrecognizable when seen in a flashback of Dr. Frankenstein’s childhood when she is introduced to the audience as Victor’s mother. Later on in the film when Victor is older, we see Goth yet again when playing Dr. Frankenstein’s doomed love interest, Elizabeth Lavenza. Dr. Frankenstein and Elizabeth are not allowed to be together, however, that doesn’t stop Isaac’s character from trying to move forward with Goth’s, leading to conflict between the two later in the story.
The true standout casting in this film is no one other than the person who plays The Creature himself, Jacob Elordi. Under all of the makeup and prosthetics, Elordi brings the true emotion that The Creature was described to have in the novel, showing the audience the transformation The Creature underwent from being an innocent “person” to someone who begins seeking revenge on his creator. Elordi’s performance has been highly praised by critics due to him bringing the true feelings of the movie and original novel to light.
While Del Toro’s film only released in select theaters across the country, on November 7, 2025 Frankenstein was put onto Netflix as it was originally intended to do so. Much like the initial novel, critical reviews to this movie are quite mixed, with some praising its visual style and standout performance by Jacob Elordi with others being upset that the plot deviated from the original novel. According to critics and enjoyers of Shelley’s book, the film’s time period was shifted to Victorian England rather than the Enlightenment era, and the book portrayed The Creature as more sympathetic paired with Victor Frankenstein being more villainous, leading to some skepticism. Besides this, key character relationships were also changed for this film such as the one between Elizabeth and Victor, and the ending of the book between The Creature and Victor was altered in the film adaption. In short, many critics believed that Del Toro shifted the tone of the original cautionary tale to one about forgiveness, ambition, and empathy, with some praising the changes and others being more harsh on the film due to it.
Despite the mixed reviews, once again like the original novel, the film became immediately popular by audiences. Scoring a 94% on the audience “Rotten Tomatoes” meter, the horror/sci-fi movie is described as legendary by audiences, with individuals praising its storytelling, cast, and visuals. Besides this, audiences are applauding the costume design of the film, specifically the gothic period pieces worn by Goth, and the makeup transformation that took place on Elordi to bring The Creature to life.
Whether you like the film adaptation or not, Guillermo Del Toro definitely brought everything he had to his version of Frankenstein. With a star studded cast and intricate visuals, the story of The Creature is truly brought to life in front of your eyes despite the changes the film made to the original novel. This film is definitely one of the best releases of this year, and I would highly recommend watching it even if you aren’t really familiar with the original Frankenstein story, even if it is just to see Elordi’s star performance or the meticulously crafted graphics. Guillermo Del Toro truly made Frankenstein (2025) his own masterpiece, and I, as well as many others, cannot wait to see what he does next.