This October another adaptation of the classic tale Frankenstein’s Monster was added to the tally. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s bold retelling offers a haunting bundle of lavish imagery- mesmerizing audiences, even in its weakest moments. 

Opening into an Arctic sequence documenting the final moments between the creator and the creation, this movie envelopes itself in candle lit dread, antique sets, and a backdrop of deep reds and blacks— conjuring a gothic atmosphere which lives up to Shelley’s original horror. Movie critics have devoured the aesthetic, naming the film a “lavish epic” that “finds humanity” in cinemas’ most iconic zombie. 

You can’t talk about this movie without mentioning, of course, the heart stopping monster himself; Jacob Elordi. Born from a corpse and revived by science, he somehow exudes aching sensitivity. Elordi’s performance captures the creature’s confusion, loneliness and rage, he gifts the monster a humanity and poignance rarely seen. Oscar Isaac plays the obsessed mad scientist Victor Frankenstein with a crazed perfection. He walks the tightrope between visionary genius and terrifying pride. He truly convinces Frankenstein he truly is god himself. 

This moving picture, like any other, isn’t without its flaws. Some movie lovers claim that for all its ambition, the plot sometimes drags. With a total watch time of 2 hours and 29 minutes it’s hard not to check your phone throughout. Another criticism of del Toro’s thought process is his effort to humanize the monster— saying it went too far, rewriting the character into a more tragic horror than its uncanny predecessors. 

Still, for those dedicated enough to surrender to its consuming mood and its melancholy, the new Frankenstein delivers a feeling that lingers. It’s gruesome, sometimes messy, and consistently unsubtle— but when it works, it hits hard. This film stands as a dark, stirring meditation on creation, responsibility and what it means to be alive— and for many, it’s a monstrous masterpiece reborn.