Frankenstein (2025)
9.5/10
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro
Starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth
One of, if not my favorite watch of 2025.
I am a HUGE fan of the consistent escence of character that Guillermo Del Toro brings into each of his films. Frankenstein felt like a highlight reel of for everything that Del Toro is known for being amazing at, like the use of the recurring themes of death, maternity, trauma and human connection. The color grading throughout the film was also very interesting to see, going from colder and soul-less tones to very intense and emotionally metaphorical colors as the film progressed. I heard in a couple of press interviews that he focused on grading blue and white colors at the beggining and ending shots of the movie, which I think was a phenomenal decision, it definitely served the purpose of mirroring the juxtaposing transitions of The Creature, to a humanlike figure, and Victor, to a monster-like human being.
The acting was amazing thoughout the film.
Jacob Elordi’s portrayal of the creature was very impressive to me as someone who has seen him in several other films. I think that Frankenstein will skyrocket his career and propel him to land more significant blockbuster roles in the future. The voice acting for the creature was amazing (pretty obvious if you’ve ever heard his normal voice). The way in which he was able to portray these inhuman movements at times was also great in my opinion. I also read about the make-up routine that he had to go through before filming, according to many sources it was about 10-11 hours of make-up which sounds ABSOLUTELY GRUELING, but also explains why it looks so good on screen. Props to him.
As a Guatemalan myself, it was really cool to see Oscar Isaac portray Victor Frankenstein with such natural ease. I think that he was the perfect casting for the character, he was able to demonstrate the metamorphosis of Victor throughout the film. Moreover, hearing from him and Guillermo throughout the press tour content was really heartwarming. It was very funny to hear how they sometimes envisioned the interpretation of actors throughout the film as classic latin telenovela performance. Definitely think they brought the latin escense to this project.
Mia Goth’s interpretation of Elizabeth was one of the X factors of the film in my opinion. Her character was the key initial piece to the story for the audience to start understanding the underlying meaning and true identity of The Creature. I also saw an analysis about the color choices for Elizabeth’s wardrobe which was pretty interesting, they chose very live green and earthy tones (which are almost inexistent in the rest of the film) to represent the characters injection of peculiarity and natural curiosity through the story.
I also have to note that I have previously read the original book by Mary Shelley and feel like Del Toro did an amazing job with the screenplay by being loyal to the narrative of the novel.
Overall, I really enjoyed watching this film. Funny enough, I saw it in my dorm room (lights off though), so I really can’t imagine how cool it would have been to experience it first time in a movie theatre.
Peace :)
