Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein: A film more than just monsters!

Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein: A film more than just monsters!

Guillermo del Toro is distinguished not only by his impressive Oscar nominations and awards, but also by his extraordinary film worlds. Today, November 7th, 2025, his new film “Frankenstein” can now be seen on Netflix and already attracted a lot of attention when it premiered in Venice in August. Loud Radiowuppertal The film is one of the most daring interpretations of Mary Shelley's classic.

Del Toro's vision for "Frankenstein" is brimming with his signature gothic aesthetic. The production costs amounted to an impressive 120 million euros and that is no coincidence - the elaborately designed, hand-made sets contribute significantly to the fairytale atmosphere of the film. In a running time of two and a half hours, the film takes us into the dark corners of a castle, onto the turbulent sea and into the secret laboratory of an ambitious scientist.

A prominent cast and exciting characters

With a well-known cast that includes Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Christoph Waltz and Jacob Elordi, the film is peppered with top acting performances. Isaac portrays the charismatic but arrogant scientist, while Elordi slips into the creature's skin. The monster is not portrayed here as a one-dimensional figure, but as a sensitive being who is looking for love and belonging before taking a destructive turn in his quest for acceptance.

A particularly interesting facet of the film is its emphasis on father-son relationships, a theme del Toro explores several times. In the role of Victor's brother, Felix Kammerer gives an insight into the complex family relationships that significantly shape the characters.

The path to the role as a monster

Jacob Elordi meticulously prepared for his role by studying old silent films. So he wanted to experience the world from his character's perspective. This also included a complex make-up process that took up to ten hours a day. Del Toro himself compared this process to a religious ritual and encouraged his actors to view it as a form of meditation - a strategy that gives the filmmaking a deep emotional context.

Guillermo del Toro remains a master of his craft and with “Frankenstein” once again succeeds in taking the audience into another reality. It remains to be seen how the film will be received by viewers, but anticipation is certainly high - it definitely has a knack for creating captivating stories.