Hideous Progeny- Frankenstein

Guillermo del Toro brings a redemptive twist to Mary Shelley's tragic original story in Frankenstein, starring Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature.

Twisted reflection

First impressions of the film reveal that it relies heavily on visual methods of storytelling in contrast with the original stories more dialogue heavy method of story telling. The costumes are particularly extravagant with bright colors and exaggerated figures and we are transported through elegant manors and ominous towers on jagged cliffs. The team of Kate Hawley, Shane Vieau and the staggering creative ability of the makeup department presents us with a world that is grounded in our own, but contains an eerie almost otherworldly aspect that you cant quite identify. It is visually resonant but not quite beautiful. Impressive but not attractive. The tone and setting of the movie are much like the creature, a twisted reflection.

Duality

The story is told in two major parts: Frankenstein’s perspective and motivations and then the Creature’s

Frankenstein, scarred by his mother’s untimely death, is chasing the elixir of life but takes extreme measures crossing lines that lead him down a path of dehumanizing violence and selfish ambition.

The creature scarred by his empty placeless existence, claws his way through an upbringing of pain and aggression to find his place in a world he cannot truly assimilate in.

Extremes

While violence and dark themes can have a place in some movies establishing or emphasizing a theme or the aspects of a villain, the use of it in this film is quite gratuitous. This film does do an excellent job building an unsettling world and setting, but in my opinion it misses the mark of emphasizing themes and ends up simply villainizing the Doctor to the point that the first half of the movie and its impressive visual aspects and story telling techniques are drowned out in the shock factor. Also its lack of adherence to the original story makes it hard to justify the inclusion of such gratuitous violence. So we here at Sebs say proceed with caution as it is quite gruesome.

Violence compared to other Films

(Least to most intense left to right)

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The Hurt Sweeney Todd: Frankenstein

locker the demon

barber of Fleet

Street

If you are in the mood for an eerie unsettling ode to the dangers of unchecked ambition and the horrors that follow check out del Toros Frankenstein:

Exclusively on Netflix

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