Mexican-born filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro has created his movie adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—the classic 1818 gothic novel. Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein released on Netflix on October 17, 2025. While this particular movie adaptation strays away from Mary Shelley’s storyline, this storyline and gothic elements of the film are still extremely captivating. 

The film star, Jacob Elordi, who played the creature in Frankenstein, had an amazing performance playing his role. He used no voice effects for his role and it was all natural. He inspired his performance based on his golden retriever. Originally, Andrew Garfield was casted to be the monster in the film. However, Andrew Garfield had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Jacob Elordi. Jacob Elordi was able to do a terrific job with his role because he embraced the weight, the wonder, the fear, and the humanity of the creature—really immersing himself into the role. Senior Tara Gyaltsen said, “I liked the movie. The actor that did the best job is Jacob Elordi.”

Oscar Issac played Victor Frankenstein, clearly portraying Frankenstein’s madness for the pursuit of knowledge. Both in the book and in the movie, Victor Frankenstein clearly seeks to play God himself—creating life with his own two hands.

Mia Goth played Elizabeth Harlander, who was set to marry William, Victor’s brother. Both Victor and Elizabeth shared a common interest in science and nature, which made Victor fall for Elizabeth. However, she hated his guts, which was quite funny to watch. Mia Goth portrayed the gentleness of Elizabeth’s character in such an amazing way, delivering a phenomenal performance. The way Elizabeth treated the creature was so refreshing to see, like a mother nurturing her child. It’s a bit weird that she played Victor’s mother as well, though. Senior Lianna Appice said, “Mia Goth, who played Elizabeth Harlander, made a really good performance.”

Overall, the film had great actors and actresses who portrayed their roles well. The film also did an excellent job emphasizing Victor, as a true monster and the creature’s search for humanity and acceptance. Even though the film wasn’t fully exactly like Mary Shelley’s novel, the film still had an engaging storyline and represented a great adaptation.