Another of Guillermo del Toro's long-gestating projects finally reaches the screen, and this ambitious take on Mary Shelley's classic novel is both striking and very satisfying. After a lively and very engaging Prelude, Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) then recounts the events that led to the final tragedy, followed by The Creature's story. This take on The Creature (Jacob Elordi) shows him as agile and fearsomely strong, with Frankenstein driven but maniacally haunted by what he ultimately has created, the product of privilege and a cruel father (which plays into the Frankenstein/Creature relationship to very good effect). As a del Toro film, it is of course visually creative and stunningly beautiful right from the start, with a gorgeously elegant Alexandre Desplat score that creates a rich and sumptuous experience both as a period piece and as a sci-fi/horror epic. The language of del Toro's script is absorbing, Oscar Isaac is great as Frankenstein, Christoph Waltz is strong as his patron, Mia Goth makes Frankenstein's sister-in-law aloofly interesting, and Jacob Elordi fuses the contemporary and classic to strong effect as |The Creature, navigating its brutality and sensitivity very well indeed. It all leads to a different and unexpected ending that is fitting and devastatingly beautiful. This is a fine film, and it shows that now is perhaps the time for Netflix to let del Toro have the resources to realise his cherished H.P. Lovecraft project.
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