It’s no secret that Guillermo del Toro loves Frankenstein, both as a novel (in the documentary Sangre del Toro, screened in Venice’s Classics sidebar, he says he completely identified with Mary Shelley’s worldview when he first read the book) and as a cinematic concept: a viewing of the 1931 James Whale version at an early age led to a lifelong fascination with monsters. The tale of the modern Prometheus is one of two stories he’s always dreamed of putting his own stamp on, and having finally pulled off Pinocchio in 2022, the Mexican filmmaker has reteamed with Netflix for his take on the archetypal mad scientist and his tragic creation.

Outside of the festival circuit and a limited theatrical release, the film will primarily play to subscribers of the world’s most (in)famous streaming service (at the press screening in Venice, some journalists performatively booed the big red N in the opening credits). It is therefore a given the movie will travel as far and wide as possible, especially since the director’s pedigree ensures Netflix will properly promote the project, but is also means the vast majority of audiences won’t get to enjoy the spectacle to the fullest degree, as del Toro’s insistence on using little to no green screen and CGI pays off hugely on a larger canvas.

A largely faithful retelling of the events of the novel, it is also very much the brainchild of Guillermo del Toro and his passion for creatures. In this case, the Creature (portrayed by Jacob Elordi, who gives a suitably pained performance) has a design which, in the early stages, comes across as a blend of the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth and Jared Nomak from Blade II; a later incarnation with hair looks like English singer Ian Astbury by way of Prince Nuada from Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

Conversely, Victor Frankenstein, as embodied by Oscar Isaac, has a bit of Tom Hiddleston’s character in Crimson Peak to him as far as looks, but the defining element comes from a far different source: del Toro has spoken fondly of Hammer Films’ series of Frankenstein movies, and their influence is evident, from the Gothic set design, immaculately devised by Tamara Deverell (Nightmare Alley) to the fact almost everyone is vaguely British regardless of the character’s nationality (the main exception, save for the Danish crew in the framing device, is Christoph Waltz, who remains as gloriously Viennese as ever). And Isaac is perhaps the first actor since Peter Cushing to nail a key aspect of Victor’s personality: that he is, in fact, the proper villain of the story, and his own worst enemy.

Not that there’s any subtlety about it: at least one character openly says to Victor, “You are the monster.” It’s perfectly in keeping with the film’s grand overflow of emotions (it is a Gothic tragedy, rather than a scary movie in the conventional sense), and the culmination of a structural gambit that lets the egomaniacal doctor dominate proceedings (Victor’s Tale, as the subtitle for that section goes) before his “son” reclaims his position as the actual tragic figure (The Creature’s Tale, a clever adaptation of the novel’s shift in perspective), doomed to eternal life while Victor’s earthly pains will end at some point. That he’s the more human of the two is also conveyed via his voice, since the family from whom the Creature indirectly learns human language has a Yorkshire accent, hints of which remain in Elordi’s delivery and give him a more down-to-earth quality next to Isaac’s dramatically heightened Received Pronunciation.

Besides the Netflix factor and some cast members (Waltz and David Bradley most notably), the film shares a key thematic connection with Pinocchio, namely its love for artistry and craftsmanship – the movie provides an explanation of sorts for why the Creature is assembled from multiple cadavers – and how the artistic creation may live on beyond the author’s death. In that sense, while it may not be the definitive Frankenstein movie, and arguably not even del Toro’s finest work, it is the purest, most sincere distillation of all his dreams and nightmares, turned into two and a half hours of exhilarating passion for old school filmmaking.

Director & Screenwriter: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Charles Dance, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen, Christian Convery
Producers: Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, Scott Stuber
Cinematography: Dan Lausten
Production design: Tamara Deverell
Costume design: Kate Hawley
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Sound: Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, Greg Chapman
Production companies: Double Dare You, Demilo Films, Bluegrass 7
World sales: Netflix
Venue: Venice Film Festival (Competition)
In English, Danish