Everything to Know Before del Toro’s Frankenstein Hits Netflix

Guillermo del Toro is the king of gothic horror and classic monster cinema, renowned for hits like Pan’s Labyrinth And The shape of water. Today, he is back with a new masterpiece: that of Mary Shelley. Frankenstein, which is easily one of the most anticipated releases of the fall. Given the director’s gift for visual storytelling through uncommon artistry evoking haunting beauty and feelings, there is no doubt that his film will both hypnotize and move us, but how faithful will it be to the classic?

Here’s everything you need to know about Guillermo del Toro’s next film Frankenstein.

The plot of Frankenstein

If you think you know how Del Toro Frankenstein is going to play out, make no mistake. You should know more, especially from this award-winning fantasy filmmaker.

Credit: Netflix

The epic monster horror follows the brilliant but selfish Dr. Victor Frankenstein. He is a kind of mad scientist, obsessed with discovering the secrets of the generation of life, who assembles a being from random parts of the human body. The result is The Creature, whose very existence speaks to the question of what it really means to not only be human, but also to be half of a whole – creator and creature, father and son – hungry for love, understanding and longing for human connection.

As The Creature comes to life, Victor quickly loses control, not only of his experience but also of his own mind.

The cast

The role of the brilliant but tragically flawed Dr. Victor Frankenstein is played by Dune‘s Oscar Isaac, while Jacob Elordi, from Salt burnvoices and plays The Creature.

Credit: Netflix

Scream queen Mia Goth, from the X horror film series, tackles two roles: Elizabeth Lavenza, the fiancée of Victor’s younger brother, as well as Victor’s late mother, Claire, who died in childbirth. Additionally, Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) plays Harlander, David Bradley from Harry Potter plays the Blind Man and Charles Dance, from The Day of the Jackalplays Leopold Frankenstein.

Trailers

Del Toro’s teaser and trailer Frankenstein Work together to provide us with crucial information about this gothic horror classic. It looks like the film is going to give us the point of view of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. While the film’s trailer depicts the story from Frankenstein’s point of view, the first full trailer (above), premiering October 1, is narrated by The Creature, who has clearly evolved from the snarling beast we encountered back in 1931. Frankenstein.

The trailer is grandiose and visually sumptuous, showing us the creation of the monster during a thunderstorm, as well as what appears to be an intimate moment with his brother’s fiancée. It also shows us a ship stranded in the Arctic, where Victor and his creation are in conflict with each other. All The Creature wants from his creator is love and acceptance, and when things don’t go his way, he attacks a ship stuck in ice and its entire crew.

“If you do not allow me to love, then I will give way to rage,” says The Creature, setting the emotional tone of the film by relying on the philosophical dialogue in which the author initially imbued his creation.

The monster’s voice alone tells us that we are headed toward a deep exploration of humanity: what defines it, what our responsibility is to all life we ​​create, and how one can find peace between its monstrous exterior and its deeply human interior.

The monster

The appearance of Elordi’s monster was kept under wraps, most likely to preserve maximum on-screen impact when the film was released, and we get it. Netflix released a first image in August (below), and it says a lot.

Credit: Netflix

Even if we didn’t know that our monster displayed intelligence, we would have some idea of ​​the human composite’s deeply empathetic capacity and aptitude based on this photo. It’s clear to him that there is much more depth beyond just being a snarling, mindless beast.

Additionally, we also know that The Creature will struggle to come to terms with his creator’s actions in order to heal a painfully emotional wound. The many ways del Toro will portray remain to be seen, but should be poignant works of art that will touch the core of your soul. Additionally, as Del Toro is a proponent of old-school craftsmanship, look for handmade details rather than digital effects and AI, allowing for a much more authentic experience.

One thing is certain: del Toro’s monster should defy expectations as an object of beauty and a work of art.

Is Del Toro’s Frankenstein a true adaptation?

Yes and no. While del Toro’s film will reorient itself Frankenstein to its originally intended moral core, i.e. The Creature’s point of view, it will also take creative liberty and go further to explore it from a different angle that forces you to question who the real monster is in this story.

Based on the latest trailer, del Toro’s adaptation looks close to resembling Mary Shelley’s bestselling 1818 novel, but we’ll have to wait and see if it’s up to the challenge. It has the advantage of using modern technology to deliver a visually stunning, practical effects-driven narrative. Everything that happens in the trailer seems to fit the original masterpiece and puts The Creature’s desperate struggle for identity front and center, where it belongs.

Del Toro’s Vision: What to Expect

Guillermo Del Toro is no stranger to writing misunderstood and deeply complex characters, but Frankenstein This is perhaps his boldest approach yet: it completely changes the direction of the narrative. In previous adaptations, The Creature was more of an afterthought. Here he will be brought to the forefront to function as the main character and the beating heart of the story. As such, you can expect to see Dr. Frankenstein play a more villainous role than that of a misunderstood scientist.

“Mary Shelley’s masterpiece is full of questions that burn brightly in my soul: existential, tender, wild, and doomed questions that only burn in a young mind and that only adults and institutions believe they can answer,” del Toro explains in this Netflix Tudum article. “For me, only monsters hold the secrets I desire.”

We will also see Frankenstein and The Creature attempt to provide answers to the philosophical questions posed by their search for meaning in a crazy world, but that’s not all. Del Toro also told Tudum that he wanted viewers to feel the anxiety discussed in the novel: “The anxiety you feel when you’re a teenager and you don’t understand why everyone is lying about the world,” Del Toro said.

The director aimed to capture this anxiety on an intensely visceral level by reframing the relationship between creator and creation around responsibility and consequences, likely relying heavily on his inherent gift for empathetic monsters to restore the beast’s eloquence.

Credit: Netflix

To a Tudum Earlier this year, del Toro called the film “the culmination of a journey that has occupied most of my life…Monsters have become my personal belief system.” Frankenstein throughout my films.

Frankenstein isn’t just about science gone wrong. It’s about the human condition and the capacity for forgiveness and understanding, and finding beauty in what is tragically flawed and hideous. Given the filmmaker’s historic success with his creature-based narratives and complex explorations of creator-creation relationships, hopes are high that this will be an adaptation that does mythological justice to Shelley’s original ideas.

When and where to watch Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro Frankenstein will premiere in select theaters on October 17, 2025, before arriving worldwide on Netflix on Friday, November 7, 2025. The duration of the film is two hours and 29 minutes.

Frankenstein

Release date

October 17, 2025

Runtime

149 minutes

Director

Guillermo del Toro

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