Guielrmo Del Toro is well-known for his vocal and very negative stance towards all manner of CGI effects, generative AI, and other digital-only movie-making tools. In his latest film, he tries his hardest to put his money where his mouth is, making the latest version of the classical Mary Shelly tale about playing god and being the victim of that playtime.
The result is a very moving film with a fantastic showing by Jacob Elordi, who created one of the most iconic monsters/poets that the cinematic world saw in both this and the previous century. Oscar Issac also did exceedingly well with Victor Frankenstein, a man whose genius was only shadowed by his dark ambitions. Once more, we can see just how effective Issac is as the support character and lending his efforts to the film as a whole, not just his part in it.
However, it’s still Elodi who manages to provide such an original, animalistic entity. His monster is not a monster at all, but a being born unto a strange and violent world, who does not give up on seeking both meaning and connection. At the same time, Elodi manages to transform into pure and utter aggression, where his body becomes a weapon and his voice a harbinger of death. Throughout, his presentation is snake-like, both when it comes to his curiosity and his willingness to hurt others when he chooses to.
The film’s only odd downside is the strange post-production that Del Toro decided upon. Because of it, gorgeous physical sets and props, just like costumes, too often feel overly-cleaned and sparkling, as if most of the things we’re seeing are made from some weird CGI plastic. Yet, this doesn’t manage to drown out the performances, and ultimately, for a film about a man made from parts of others, this might be ultimately strangely fitting.
