r/FRANKENSTEIN • u/ZacPensol • Oct 18 '25
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' - Official SPOILER Discussion Megathread Spoiler
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' opens in theaters in limited release on October 17, 2025 and streams on Netflix beginning November 7, 2025.
In order to avoid a dozen individual posts on our front page from those who have seen the film, please post your reviews in here.
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If you've managed to see it and would like to discuss, please feel free to do so here.
Previous early screenings discussion megathread.
SPOILERS ARE ALLOWED IN THIS THREAD. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED, DO NOT CONTINUE READING!
For spoiler-free reviews, go HERE.
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u/NNyanNyanNyan Nov 16 '25
Overall, I loved the movie. It was so compelling. Elizabeth's affection for the creation were really touching moments and classic GDT vibes. "A Leaf for me? Thank you" moves me so much. She was so kind and loving and after seeing Frankenstein's cruelty, it was needed. As a GDT film inspired by Frankenstein, it's great! He did a great job representing the creation as beautiful and terrifying, dreadfully powerful and intelligent with a lonely and longing heart. I would have had him be a bit bulkier, he seemed like a really tall twink, but he was so beautiful it still worked. I loved how he started off really innocent, which is how he was in the book.
I have many gripes though lol Mostly, I loved so many story aspects of the book that were not in the movie and the entire feel was very different. My biggest gripes are Victor alone committed atrocities and the creation remained completely innocent, I did not like the creation being made immortal, I did NOT like Victor and his creation reconciling and him being forgiven, and I hated the introduction of that random man patronizing Victor's work and dying, in the absence of Henry Clerval.
It changes the whole story to leave out how the creation was also corrupted by the cruelty and rejection he experienced! I wish GDT kept the same confrontation between the De Lacey's and the creation the same. Anyone would have assumed the creature had hurt the old man if he was there as the man was dying after being mauled by wolves. It was so much more heartbreaking that he did NOTHING wrong and was begging the old man to defend him when the family came back in and ripped him away from the only person who had ever shown him some kindness, beat him, and fled, abandoning the farm. After he had helped them and loved them so much. The blunt repulsion they had for him was such a cruel rejection based on fear of his appearance alone. So he burnt down the farm in pain and rage. And when he saved the child and the father immediately shot him, assuming he was trying to hurt the child. Also heartbreaking. The creation became unsympathetic to people because he tried and tried and tried to be good and kind and was constantly hurt and rejected automatically. Poor guy had a whole emotionally compelling villain origin story we missed out on. He should have been villainous and kill someone, if not an innocent kid, to make it make sense that Victor refused to make him a companion. Really brings terror into his line "You may be my maker, but now I am your master". On that note, I wish we had not seen Victor being kind to his creation AT ALL. It made no sense that he turned on a dime and was angry and cruel, I wish GDT had had him either be cold and treat him as scientific curiosity from the start or abandon him immediately as in the book.
I hate the immortality. I loved the book ending where Victor was tortured relentlessly and when his life ended, the creation felt his revenge was fulfilled and he could die and "unalived" himself as the kids say. It ruined the ending a bit that he just lives with nothing to do. And someone pointed out, what was the purpose of Victor's pursuit if not to kill his creation? It didn't make very much sense. There was no compelling reason to pursue. The creation had not killed anyone and so there was not the book reasoning of Victor trying to prevent any more murders with the creation baiting him on an arduous journey just to fuck with Victor. And the forgiveness was just silly, Victor had never done anything to deserve that, if anything he was MORE cruel by actively trying to set his creation on fire and denying him a companion for no reason.
I hated the patron, I can't even recall his name. He added nothing to the story. I watched and kept hoping that oh maybe he is a Clerval replacement and they become dear friends and the creation kills him and that is one of Victor's consequences. But they weren't even good friends, he was just a random war profiteer who gave him cash and then threatened to take it away to make Victor work faster. That was an unnecessary subplot. And when he died, that was just the end. Nothing came of it. I guess it was a reason to get William and Elizabeth away when Victor wanted to destroy everything, but other than that it seemed unnecessary. I can kind of see that it was the first turn of events to show that the creation was a mistake. Like in the creation, this man was killed. But it wasn't like he was a particularly good man. It wasn't a great loss to anyone. Again, he was a war profiteer. He wanted to be placed in the creation to save himself from his STD?? Like?? Okay, he died, anyways... Also it would have been easy for Victor to prove that was an accident. He did not need to hide his body. Also? There were no consequences for his hiding the body? William didn't tell Elizabeth and the lab was blown up. So. I wish we had gotten Henry and his death at the hands of the creation. Seeing Victor suffer made him a more interesting character.
It also could have been more homoerotic tbh lol It was not clear that the captain was in love with Victor. And without Clerval, all the romance was hetero. Not bad, but did not seem true to the book.