Frankenstein (2025)

Del Toro delivers what may be the definitive screen version of Shelley's novel, a gory and glorious two-and-a-half-hour love letter filled with tangible invention, beautiful craft, and heartbreaking performances from Isaac and Elordi. It is one of the most beautifully made films of the year.

The critic praises Jacob Elordi's magnetically charismatic performance as the monster, which makes one feel sympathy for the devil in this cranked-to-11 creature feature.

Del Toro brings Mary Shelley's creature to glorious, gaudy gothic life in a bombastic and sublime film that is loud, emotional, and sympathetic to its misunderstood monster. The production is spectacular and the performances, especially Isaac's, are superb.

The critic lauds del Toro’s painstaking artistry, elegant creature design and the film’s huge beating heart as a stitched-together Gothic romanticism that balances fairy tale, fantasy and body-horror. Faithfulness to the source with personal thematic additions is praised.

The critic calls it a well-meant but seriously flawed and overstuffed passion project that emphasises emotional scars in the doctor-creature relationship. The monster's mournful truth is singled out for praise amid morbid high jinks.

Del Toro's operatic adaptation works best at its most grand and emotional, with superb turns from Isaac and Elordi as Victor and the creature. It is a handsome, passionate Gothic melodrama that triumphs in spectacle and theme even if it sometimes favors grand gestures over nuance.

Del Toro's lavish adaptation is a grand gothic fairytale that understands the story as a cautionary tale about poor parenting, with strong performances from Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi. It is visceral and melodramatic, though it occasionally veers toward the silly while staying sincere.

The critic finds del Toro's version a bombastic but watchable stately melodrama with distinctive luxurious visuals that sometimes impede horror energy. The shift to the creature's point of view is singled out as an ingenious jolt of life.

Del Toro delivers a sumptuous, emotionally charged retelling that emphasizes tragedy, romance, and philosophical reflection over straight horror, with revelatory performances from Oscar Isaac and especially Jacob Elordi as the Creature.

The critic finds del Toro’s adaptation visually stunning and formally masterful but ultimately thematically lacking and short on emotional voltage. Elordi’s sympathetic Creature and the production design are singled out amid complaints of romanticism over horror.

The critic praises the film as a powerfully entertaining and emotionally resonant retelling that mines rich vulnerability from the familiar story. Performances by Isaac, Elordi and Goth, along with striking visuals and thematic depth on suffering and creation, are highlighted.

The critic calls del Toro’s adaptation the movie he was born to make, praising its lush, romantic, and emotional take on the story of fathers, sons, and outcasts. She highlights how the film stays true to Shelley’s themes while infusing del Toro’s signature fingerprints of pathos and strange beauty.

The critic calls the film a masterfully concocted and pertinent adaptation that is classy if somewhat safe, with awards potential. Ravishing production design and thematic relevance are praised, while the leisurely pace and fidelity to the book are noted as drawbacks.

The first half feels busy and lifeless, but Jacob Elordi’s Creature breathes soul into the film; del Toro fills it with his obsessions in a technically masterful, passionate adaptation that feels like the work of a true madman.

Del Toro’s adaptation is a fascinating and thoughtful tale on what it means to be human and who is really the monster. The critic singles out the grand, operatic intensity of the creation sequence along with the exceptional score and old-fashioned visuals.

Jacob Elordi delivers a standout sympathetic and attractive performance as the creature in this gothic adaptation that emphasizes romantic melodrama over horror, though supporting human characters are overshadowed.

The film is a visually stunning passion project with strong empathy in Jacob Elordi's creature performance, but suffers from uneven pacing and an overly long runtime that makes it exhausting.

Del Toro’s Frankenstein is a lush, empathetic take on Shelley’s story that feels uniquely his, with strong performances especially from Jacob Elordi as the tender Creature and Mia Goth as Elizabeth. The film excels in its visuals and monster design but feels rushed and thematically scattered in its final act.