ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — It feels like Guillermo del Toro has been building toward this moment for his entire career. After constructing a dozen beautiful, gothic films featuring eccentric laboratories, empathetic monsters and crumbling mansions, he has finally been granted the opportunity to work with the ur-text of them all: “Frankenstein.” Read our review of the “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Shape of Water” director’s adaptation below.

“FRANKENSTEIN” (2025, directed by Guillermo del Toro)

“Frankenstein” stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as The Creature, Felix Kammerer as Victor’s younger brother, William, Mia Goth as William’s fiancé and the object of Victor’s affection, Christoph Waltz as Henrich Harlander, Victor’s financier, Charles Dance as Baron Leopold Frankenstein, Victor and William’s father, and Lars Mikkelsen as Captain Anderson, the captain of a ship headed for the North Pole.

For all its 280-page brevity and the two centuries since its publication, Mary Shelley’s classic monster novel has proven difficult to adapt. From James Whale and Boris Karloff’s lumbering, bolt-necked effort to Kenneth Branagh’s 1994 attempt, a definitive version of Shelley’s story has not yet been brought to life on the silver screen.

With his new film, del Toro has come the closest yet, at least as far as Frankenstein’s monster is concerned.

Crafting The Creature

The defining element of Shelley’s novel most often excised in adaptation is The Creature’s sympathetic, intelligent humanity. The monster of Shelley’s book is a melancholic philosopher with the body of a hulking brute, far closer to Rodin’s “The Thinker” come to life than groaning, growling and green-skinned. From the very first sequence of del Toro’s film, a thrilling, bloody set piece on an icebound ship, the director makes it clear that this version of The Creature is not that of the Whale films.

Elordi will shine most in the film’s center section, but even in the opening chapter, when his Creature is cloaked in darkness, literally and otherwise, the actor commands the screen. The 6 foot 5 inch Elordi is already a towering height by Hollywood standards, but in “Frankenstein,” his enraged monster looms over the icy scene in a tall, unassailable malignance. His very physicality is an imposing introduction, only enhanced by the demise of a few unfortunate sailors and a gravelly roar of “VICTOR!.”

In true Shelley fashion, del Toro’s “Frankenstein” is a nesting doll. The film is told, à la the book, in two “tales:” Victor’s and The Creature’s. The screenplay is undoubtedly the weakest ligament of del Toro’s creation, unaided by adherence to the novel’s structure. In del Toro’s translation, the framing device of Victor and The Creature telling tales to the captain is clunky at best. However, their characters’ dual, dueling narratives do allow Isaac and Elordi equal opportunities to show off their strengths.

Maker versus monster

Isaac is good as Victor Frankenstein. From “Ex Machina” on, the actor has always been reliable when it comes to portraying arrogant obsession, but he sinks his teeth into the period flamboyance of this character with maniacal glee. Isaac’s Victor looks and acts like a giant, preening crow. He flaps around and gesticulates in his suit jackets and picks over corpses like the scavenger birds. He is, however, utterly outclassed by Elordi, a fitting match for their characters’ arcs.

From the moment of his “birth” to the film’s conclusion, Elordi is mesmerizing to behold. The naturally doe-eyed actor is virtually buried under the incredible prosthetics by Mike Hill, a regular del Toro collaborator, but he still manages to bleed soulfulness from his eyes. Even before The Creature learns to speak, complex emotion emanates from Elordi’s face.

It is a mercy Elordi is good as he is. While there are moments of pure electricity in del Toro’s movie – the exhilarating highs of the creation montage, for instance – the director takes his sweet, sweet time with the rest. If you are not one to admire the Gothic production design, which is remarkable, or drool over Kate Hawley’s costumes, which are gorgeous, or appreciate macabre flourishes of special effects, the pacing of the two-and-a-half hour “Frankenstein” might be punishing. That’s even in spite of Christoph Waltz’s lively, scene-stealing efforts and Goth’s reliably energizing playfulness. Then, on the flipside of the pacing coin, del Toro accelerates through the third act, flying past plot contrivances and questionable dialogue to reunite the narrative with the framing device. Like the bolt through Boris’ neck, Elordi provides the film a throughline.

While he made a beautiful body for his creation, del Toro did not create the perfect filmic “Frankenstein.” However, what Elordi accomplishes here may just be the perfect Frankenstein’s monster.

Rating: 3.5/5

“Frankenstein” is now playing in select theaters and will be available on Netflix on Nov. 7.