Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Guillermo del Toro Frames 'Frankenstein' as Personal Myth as Netflix Film Draws Praise and Questions

At recent public appearances, he said he has identified with the Creature since childhood.

Overview

  • The adaptation has been streaming on Netflix since Nov. 7, with Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature alongside Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz.
  • At the Gotham Awards, del Toro said reading Mary Shelley's novel helped him realize he "did not belong" and that his place was with "monsters and misfits."
  • In a Marrakech Film Festival talk, he described a decades-long drive to make the film and said he sought an operatic tone informed by the Romantic poets.
  • Discussing mortality and emotion, he told the audience he is "a big fan of death" and is "looking forward to it," offering the remarks as part of a broader reflection on his work.
  • Early reactions praise the film’s visual artistry, Elordi’s performance and Alexandre Desplat’s score, while some viewers argue the personal reinterpretation strays from Shelley’s themes.