Kaleidoscope Film Review presents its latest on Double Dare You, Demilo Films, & Bluegrass 7’s production of Frankenstein, distributed by Netflix.  Written & directed by Guillermo del Toro & based on Mary Shelley’s novel, the film stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, Charle Dance, & Lars Mikkelson.  Rated R, it has a running time of 2 hours, 30 minutes. 

Divided into 3 parts, the movie begins with a ‘Prologue’.  Here, the Horisont, a Norwegian sailing vessel bound for the North Pole, becomes trapped in an ice flow.  After rescuing & taking aboard a badly injured Baron Victor Frankenstein (Isaac), the ship is attacked by a creature who demands the release of the Baron into his hands.  Victor then tells the Captain (Mikkelson) that he is the Creature’s (Elordi) creator, & Victor begins to recount the story of how the Creature was created. 

The film’s second part is entitled ‘Victor’s Tale’.  Briefly, Victor explains how his mother died in childbirth giving life to his younger brother, William.  Victor is continuously verbally abused by his physician father Baron Leopold Frankenstein (Dance).  Angered by cruel father & grieving his mother’s death, Victor grows to become a brilliant physician who is obsessed with the thought of conquering death.  When he stages a gruesome display of attempting to reanimate a corpse in front of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh’s physicians & students which, of course, fails miserably, Victor is expelled from said institution.  Victor is then approached by successful arms merchant Henrich Harlander (Waltz) who offers Victor unlimited funds & a vacated tower in which to carry on his experiments.  There is more to Part 2, but I shan’t reveal the details; the film then transitions to its 3rd part, ‘The Creature’s Tale’, wherein the narrative is told from the Creature’s POV. 

This is a powerful & thoughtful retelling of an oft told tale.  From Carl Laemmle Jr.’s 1931 initial filming of Shelley’s tale, to Hammer Films’ 1950’s-1970’s series of Frankenstein retellings, to this current version, Shelley’s saga has thrilled, chilled, & horrified generations.  However, in the expert hands of del Toro, the tale has been retold in a lush, romantic, ornate manner that breathes new life into this Gothic Romantic scenario.  Del Toro has demonstrated that he is a master storyteller in many versions of his oeuvre: Crimson Peak, Pan’s Labyrinth, Nightmare Alley, The Shape of Water, & the FX TV series, The Strain.  Del Toro captures our attention by sticking to Shelley’s frame story of Victor & the ship at the North Pole, thus creating a canopy of suspense, wonder, & ominous forthcomings.  We are then absorbed into this world of Victorian romance, danger, & awe—a film genius at the top of his game.  Issac is very effective as the haunted, tortured, at times demented, Victor.  To cite an overused but relevant adjective in this case, Isaac expresses a great deal of ‘gravitas’ in the role.  His is a complex performance portraying a man who yearns to be God-like but is either unaware or just plain callous as to the consequences of his actions.  Elordi is a revelation delineating the, at first, simple but then, increasingly complex growth of a Creature who did not enter this world naturally yet gradually exhibits the characteristics of an amalgamation of diverse birthrights of the multiple men of which he is a part.  Waltz demonstrates again why he is a two-time Oscar winner as he gradually reveals the duplicity of a man with ulterior motives.  As always, Waltz gives a complex performance that gradually emerges into the truth.  Goth is not given much to do in a dual role as both Victor’s mother and as his ‘love’ interest.  However, it is nice to see the main character of the X film series expanding her repertoire beyond being the latest in a line of ‘Scream Queens’.  Dan Lausten’s cinematography is lush & vibrant at the right times and dreary & melancholy at others.  One is immersed in the time period through his inventive use of color, texture, & degrees of saturation.  The sublime composer Alexandre Desplat (winner of 2 Oscars, 2 Golden Globe awards & 2 Grammy awards) has written a complex score that underlies & emphasizes the emotions, actions, decisions, & consequences of the various characters & situations in which they find themselves.  If this were a silent film, one would still feel what is being depicted on screen. Kate Hawley’s costume design is period & emotionally perfect. 

I give Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein 9 out of 10 nuggets.  Whether one is a fan of the Gothic realm, this is a rewarding, emotional experience that add new dimensions to Shelley’s classic novel!