Guillermo del Toro’s long awaited lavish Gothic horror was a passion project, separating it from the pack of past Frankenstein flicks. It’s, at it’s core, a beautiful central performance for a remix. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac hamming it up to the max), creates his monster portrayed brilliantly by an unrecognisable Jacob Elordi. Horrifying and heartbreaking, the mournful creature is unlike any other in the Shelley cinematic vault.
It’s being hailed as the director’s modern Prometheus, which brings Mary Shelley’s novel to life as intricately as the doctor does his creature, rendered in Baroque decadency, steeped in melancholy and pulsing with the raw ache of creation. Del Toro’s adaptation is faithful to Shelley’s text and is one of the most emotionally devastating retelling to hit the screen.
The film opens, amid the frozen desolation of the Arctic. A Danish ship, locked in the ice and led by Captain Anderson (Lars Mikkelsen) discovers a frail injured man in the white void. Frailty works for Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac). Soon, the crew is besieged by a monstrous figure of immense strength whose wounds heal as fast as they appear. “What manner of devil made you?” Anderson demands. Victor did! From there, he recounts the terrible story that led him to the ends of the Earth as he confesses to the crime of playing God.
Tamara Deverell’s production design is exquisite; , a cathedral of rust and thunder. Its both laboratory and tomb, a monument to the madness of progress. Victor raids battlefields, collecting fragments of humanity, soldiers from the Crimea War and hung criminals, to craft a body of impossible beauty and horror. His artistry is grotesque yet intimate. He sketches skin like a painter, sculpts flesh like clay and cuts into limbs with reverence.
When the creature finally rises awakened by lightning coursing through the lymphatic system, del Toro stages it not as a spectacular but as a sorrow. Jacob Elordi ‘s performance as the creature is staggering, laying the prototype for future Frankensteins. The design department has no rival. This Frankenstein looks terrific, an architectural wonder full of bold colours. Victor ‘s laboratory is full of deep greens, bizarre symmetry with great windows.
Later when the creature learns about humanity from a blind man (David Brandle), the setting is hometown and traditional, a reflection of the values and decency that the man bestows. Dan Laustsen, the cinematographer brings each set to life. The rich production and special effects leave no room for timid acting. Victor is a foppish, know-it-all who harbours the delusion that he is beyond mortality. When he meets his brother ‘s fiance Elizabeth (Mia Goth), he attempts to seduce her because to him, no genius should be denied anything. Isaac does not excuse Victor ‘s conduct but leans into it so he becomes the villain.
While Isaac is full of aristocratic mannerisms, the monster moves like a feral. At 6-foot-5, Elordi is a tall actor and gives a fascinating physical performance. Del Toro gives his characters mature dialogue, an opportunity to reflect on their mistakes and become better people before its too late. Throughout his career the director has made films about misunderstood monsters who yearns for acceptance whilst living on society’s fringes.
To borrow a phrase from another monster movie, “Its Alive!”
