They Resurrected Frankenstein—Now It's a Slow-Burn Fever Dream
Guillermo del Toro just dropped a teaser so shadow-drenched and spine-kissed, horror Twitter is already rewriting their Halloween plans. The first look at Frankenstein—a Netflix production slated for November 2025—isn't just a teaser. It's a warning shot from a filmmaker who makes monsters seductive, sacred, and sad as hell.
“What manner of creature is that? What manner of devil made him?” Oscar Isaac's voice cuts through the silence like a priest doubting his own sermon. “I did.”
Boom. That's how you announce Frankenstein in 2025. Gothic, egotistical, and simmering with dread.
Why This Isn't Just Another Frankenstein Reboot
Let's be clear: Frankenstein adaptations are Hollywood's version of comfort food—reheated endlessly until there's no flavor left. But del Toro doesn't serve leftovers. He re-cooks the myth with his own hell-broth.
- Insane Detail: The teaser shows no clear reveal of Elordi's creature—and still makes you feel like you've seen something you shouldn't have.
- Savage Comparison: Think Pan's Labyrinth meets The Elephant Man—but if David Lynch had more velvet drapes and trauma in Eastern Europe.
Set in 19th-century Eastern Europe, the plot pivots on a dark twist: decades after Frankenstein's supposed death, Dr. Pretorious (Christoph Waltz) is back, hunting for the monster who lived. It's a resurrection inside a resurrection. Biblical. Operatic. Deranged.
The Real Horror? Who's Playing God This Time
Del Toro isn't adapting Mary Shelley's Frankenstein—he's communing with it. The novel has always been about overreach, guilt, and the way science scrapes against the divine. But here, the focus shifts: Victor (Oscar Isaac) isn't just a tragic genius—he's a fallen angel with a god complex.
Jacob Elordi, fresh off his Gen Z heartthrob rep, plays the creature. But don't expect a lumbering Boris Karloff. Del Toro hides him for a reason. Maybe to delay judgment. Maybe because the real monster isn't him—it's the one who built him.
This feels closer in spirit to Crimson Peak or Nightmare Alley than any Universal reboot. But there's something nastier lurking here—a reckoning. The teaser ends not with a bang, but a whisper:
“In seeking life, I created death.”
Yeah. This ain't your grandma's monster movie.
Past Lives of the Monster: Why This One Feels Different
Hollywood's been obsessed with Frankenstein since 1931. But the creature rarely gets sympathy—usually just stitches and screams. Kenneth Branagh's 1994 version was all melodrama and shirtless sorrow. Even I, Frankenstein (yes, that happened) turned Shelley's horror into a CGI angel-demon UFC match.
What del Toro does differently:
- Sets it in Eastern Europe, giving it a post-war, plague-ridden texture.
- Casts Oscar Isaac, an actor who can look like a prophet and a murderer in the same frame.
- Douses everything in gothic Catholic guilt—this isn't science fiction. It's resurrection as original sin.
Final Verdict: Gothic Gold or Netflix Overreach?
Let's get real: this teaser shows almost nothing—and yet it shows everything. No monster reveal. No big action. Just mood, menace, and Mia Goth looking like she knows too much.
So: Genius or garbage? Drop your verdict.
