Cover Jacob Elordi as The Creature in ‘Frankenstein’ (Photo: Netflix)
Jacob Elordi as The Creature in ‘Frankenstein’ (Photo: Netflix)
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From Jacob Elordi’s monstrous transformation to Mia Goth’s compelling portrayals, Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ emerges as a masterwork of craft and character. Fair warning, minor spoilers ahead
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein has been decades in the making—this film has been on “his mind since he was a child.” It is a masterclass in meticulous craft and obsessive detail. From Jacob Elordi’s gruelling 10-hour transformation to Mia Goth’s haunting dual roles, and from painstaking practical effects to every frame steeped in 1818 Gothic richness, Frankenstein thrums with moments worth noting.
Here, we explore the choices, textures and subtle touches that reveal del Toro’s lifelong devotion to Shelley’s world—and why this cinematic achievement demands your full attention.
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The maker’s vision made flesh
Above Director Guillermo del Toro and Oscar Isaac (Photo: Netflix)
Director Guillermo del Toro and Oscar Isaac (Photo: Netflix)
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Del Toro’s lifelong devotion to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the thread that binds his filmography. He first encountered the story on a quiet Sunday afternoon after mass, watching a televised version at the age of seven. Years later, he read the novel and told himself, “I am going to make this movie.”
Every chapter of his career may have been a step toward this moment. From Cronos to Pinocchio, del Toro has always been preoccupied with creation, monstrosity and the fragile humanity in between. Frankenstein is perhaps the culmination of decades of obsession, a work shaped by the hands of a man who has been thinking of it since childhood.
Decades later, that promise found its perfect collaborator during a simple dinner with Oscar Isaac. What began as a casual conversation about life drifted into reflections on fathers, sons and the weight of inherited pain. Del Toro saw in Isaac the emotional depth he had been envisioning for his Victor. In the middle of that intimate exchange, he asked him to play the role. Isaac agreed, and the film that had lived in del Toro’s imagination finally found its leading man.
Making the perfect monster
Jacob Elordi’s ‘creature’ is not stitched together like a puzzle of borrowed parts. Del Toro envisioned a being conceived through years of theoretical refinement, as if Victor had been planning his creation long before he ever laid hand to scalpel. The result is a form that is more than just horror.
The transformation required an astonishing ten hours of prosthetics each day. The make-up team leaned away from the traditional image of a ‘repaired’ man. Instead, they pursued anatomical lines, symmetry and the beauty of design. The creature is a concept that has finally become corporeal, rather than a desperate experiment patched together in haste. It is a choice that reimagines Shelley’s monster.
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Practical artistry over digital illusion
Above Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ set (Photo: Netflix)
Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ set (Photo: Netflix)
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In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), del Toro’s Frankenstein is definitely human. The production favoured practical craftsmanship in nearly every department. The ship where the creature unleashes his first attack was painstakingly built by hand. The cadaver brought to life was a three-person mechanical puppet, operated with the precision of a ballet.
Isaac and Elordi have spoken openly about the impact of stepping onto sets so meticulously constructed. For them, the detail was more than a backdrop. It was a collaboration, a reminder that filmmaking is a community of craftspeople. They could see, touch and even smell the work of others—that sense of shared artistry elevates their performances as actors.
A father & son tale written in sorrow
Above Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ (Photo: Netflix)
Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ (Photo: Netflix)
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At its core, del Toro’s Frankenstein is a story about lineage. It explores the relationship between creator and created, between fathers and sons and the way suffering echoes across generations. The film engages with the imagery of divinity and sacrifice, drawing a parallel between Victor and the creature.
The two lead characters reflect one another. Their actions, losses and violent attempts at understanding mirror each other like a grim inheritance. This symmetry is not just thematic but deeply emotional, grounding the spectacle of the film in a tragic human truth.
Mia Goth and the mirror of love
Above Mia Goth as Elizabeth and Claire in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ (Photo: Netflix)
Mia Goth as Elizabeth and Claire in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ (Photo: Netflix)
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Del Toro makes a bold creative decision in casting Mia Goth as both Victor’s mother and Elizabeth. It reveals a psychological dimension often only hinted at in Shelley’s text. Victor, as portrayed by Isaac, is the kind of man who is haunted by the first woman he ever loved, her mother. Every subsequent romantic attachment becomes an echo of her.
Goth’s dual performance reinforces this haunting parallel. Elizabeth carries the same nurturing, luminous qualities as Victor’s mother, making the resemblance both unsettling and inevitable. The film uses this mirroring to comment on Victor’s emotional arrested development. It becomes one of the most striking thematic devices in the story, one that deepens both the romance and the tragedy.
Frankenstein is now streaming on Netflix.
Christofer Palentino tells stories the way a digital marketer reads a campaign report: seeking patterns, turning points and the human truths hidden behind the numbers. A digital marketing professional with a keen eye for analytics, he fuses data-driven insight with creative vision to capture moments that define the cultural pulse.
His niche spans the spectrum of pop culture—music, film and fashion—anything that shapes and reflects the zeitgeist. For him, every trend has a story, and every story has a strategy.
Connect with him on Instagram @_chrspl or at christofer@tatlerphilippines.com
