I can't stop thinking about Frankenstein

By Paige Daron Irwin  |  November 14, 2025

Two months ago at TIFF, I was able to see Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein, for the first time. Between then, and my first rewatch of Frankenstein, I watched 41 films, many of them new releases or early festival premieres. In all of this time, through all of these films, I truly wasn't able to get it off my mind. I was counting down the days, hours, and then minutes until I could finally rewatch the gutwrenching feature. Upon rewatch, I have been completely consumed. I spend every conversation convincing somebody new to watch, making sure they know they can go home and watch it TONIGHT. Scrolling endlessly on Twitter looking for more. Here, I find a perfectly curated constant stream of new opinions, BTS photos, fan theories, and further explorations of the text. Naturally, I also run into criticisms of the film. Simply put, I can't stop thinking about Frankenstein.

On the surface, we have a beautifully constructed and deeply empathetic adaptation of Mary Shelley's horror classic, but upon a second watch, I discovered so much more. A common criticism of Frankenstein is that it “spoon-feeds” the overarching message of the novel to the audience, leaving no room for interpretation. One Letterboxd user even wrote, “I know writers who use subtext, and they’re all cowards.” Though I can understand this criticism, I instead see value in this approach to the text. I argue that through a relatively overt approach to the meaning of Frankenstein, a viewing experience is created which invites the viewer in as a participant. Allowing for the indulgence in deeper meanings, or remaining satisfied with the base level understanding. The creature, “Adam,” is not the monster, Victor is.

As a viewer, once you move beyond this, and look into the details of the film, you discover a masterwork of interwoven moving parts. There are hundreds of minute details built into the very marrow of the film through costume, character design, cinematography, shot composition, dialogue, set design, and more. For instance, there is so much to learn about Elizabeth through her costuming, and the genius of this is that the film still works without noticing these details. Elizabeth is written beautifully; her endless empathy, her love of science and nature, and her affinity with those neglected, are demonstrated through things such as dialogue and her interactions with the creature. Without looking further into the film material, the audience understands Elizabeth. However, a closer analysis of the film provides a deeper, levelled, and unparalleled understanding of Elizabeth and the detail put into her representation on screen.

From @Mayham_H on X (formerly Twitter)

At this point in this piece, I begin to restrain myself. I crave a long written analysis, a detailed insight into every second of the film. Nevertheless, my intention with this article is to invite *more* personal analysis, not to define the film for all those interested. What I am arguing is not just that Frankenstein is imbued with meaning on every level of its production, but that these efforts act as an invitation to partake in community and conversation regarding the film. I am fighting my instincts as a Film graduate to explain, explain, interpret, analyze, and do it all again. Instead, I am asking any readers to look deeper themselves, look at these images and find the importance of relating Elizabeth to the insects that she adores. Watch the film and do not stop at noticing Victor's habit of drinking milk, but connect the milk to bone, to the white of ivory. Notice not just how Mia Goth plays both Victor's mother and his love, but that even on her wedding day, Elizabeth wears red, the colour belonging only to Victor and his Mother. Draw the connection between the realization that Victor wears a prosthetic leg, and the events that led to it, but furthermore, intuit that he lost his leg as a consequence of his last act of empathy, and with it, his humanity.

Frankenstein truly is a film for everybody. It embraces the fantastical, the gothic, the scientific, the romantic and the poetic. It is crafted in such a manner that the audience can choose on which level to engage, and on every level, the heart of the story remains clear.