Contents
Director Guillermo del Toro began publicly speaking about wanting to adapt Frankenstein in 2007 when he told Jo Blo that he “would kill to make” a “Miltonian tragedy” version of Mary Shelley’s classic. In the intervening years, the film began to take shape. Confirmed for Universal in 2008 with Doug Jones as the monster, it was shelved for the Dark Universe, per Jones himself. Nearly two decades and a Best Picture win for del Toro later, his passion project has a pulse and the mad geniuses at Netflix have an awards season contender.
Below, the trailer, cast, release date, and everything we know about Guillermo del Toro’s monster, Frankenstein.
The trailer has no monster.
There’s a lot of spooky stuff in the first Frankenstein teaser trailer, released on May 31. The titular Victor climbs into the sky to harness lightning. A dead woman in a coffin is carried through the streets. “I created death,” he intones. Frankenstein’s monster remains a mystery, however. Instead, the trailer shows a dark figure effortlessly fighting off a ship full of men, impervious to their weapons.
Who’s in the cast?
The film stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Monster. Originally, Andrew Garfield was set to play the monster, del Toro confirmed in 2023, but he left the project shortly before filming due to scheduling. All Garfield’s intended makeup was scrapped, and the departure left del Toro just nine weeks to replace him, per Vanity Fair. He told Variety that he ultimately went with Elordi because “Jacob’s eyes are so full of humanity.”
Click here to preview your posts with PRO themes ››
Isaac and Elordi are joined by Mia Goth, who will be playing both Frankenstein’s mother and his love interest, Elizabeth. Oedipean? Freudian? Weird? Yes, yes, and definitely. The film also stars Christoph Waltz as an arms merchant named Harlander, Charles Dance as Frankenstein’s father, and Felix Kammerer as Frankenstein’s brother. It’s a big, creepy family.
What is del Toro’s version like?
Del Toro’s Frankenstein differs from typical tellings of the story in multiple ways. For one, it’s set during the Crimean War, per Vanity Fair, throughout the 1850s. While the original Shelley novel does not give an exact year, it was published in 1818. Del Toro also focuses the story on inter-family dynamics. “The usual discourse of Frankenstein has to do with science gone awry,” del Toro told Variety. “But for me, it’s about the human spirit. It’s not a cautionary tale: It’s about forgiveness, understanding, and the importance of listening to each other.”
When is the release date?
First, it premieres at the Venice Film Festival on August 30. But non-Venetians can see it in theaters on October 17, before it hits streaming on Netflix on November 7. “It’s heartbreaking that films like these don’t have full cinematic releases,” Elordi told Variety of the shortened theatrical window. “My great hope is that we get this film in cinemas for as long as possible. And then, hopefully, that can set a precedent for more films out there.” The Duffer brothers concur.
