When changes are good: A 2025 Frankenstein movie review

As someone who read “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley a year ago and has developed an unhealthy obsession with it ever since, I knew I had to watch the new adaptation.

After putting it off for a couple of weeks with the fear I would hate it, I finally pressed play on “Frankenstein,” which is now streaming on Netflix. Guillermo del Toro directs this adaptation, which stars Jacob Elordi as the Creature, Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Mia Goth as Elizabeth Lavenza. 

Thankfully, I was completely wrong in my fear of disliking the film, and even with some major changes from the book, I loved it so much. I rated it 4.5 stars and was enthralled the entire time with the gothic aesthetics, costume designs and acting performances, especially Elordi’s.

I do not typically like when movie or show adaptations are made with significant changes to the book, but “Frankenstein” succeeded at it. The way del Toro made this film provided a different outlook on the life of Frankenstein and his creature. 

One of the major differences between the book and the movie is the awful childhood Victor Frankenstein faced. In the book, Frankenstein’s father is loving and portrayed as the ideal father. In the movie, his father is depicted as an evil figure in Frankenstein’s life, and lets his mother die. He is controlling and prioritizes his work over his children, which leads to Frankenstein’s demise.

This change stood out to me over anything else and I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially with the dark aesthetics throughout the film. I think it fit well and made the acting performances all the more fun to watch. It also made the relationship between Frankenstein and the Creature more toxic and angry, as Frankenstein showed many of his father’s narcissistic and abusive tendencies in the film toward the Creature. 

Additionally, I think this change made my attachment to the Creature even heavier, even though I did not think that was possible. In the book, both Frankenstein and the Creature are monsters who make many mistakes and show evilness, whereas in the film, the Creature is portrayed as a more morally correct character, at least compared to Frankenstein.

The Creature does not go on a killing rampage in the movie, nor does he kill Frankenstein’s brother or Elizabeth Lavenza.

In the book, Lavenza is Frankenstein’s fiancée, but in the movie, this is changed to her being Frankenstein’s brother’s fiancée, and she is ultimately killed in an accident by Frankenstein himself.

Lavenza does not do much in the novel and I loved seeing her as a more pronounced and developed character in the film, especially being played by Goth, who I think excels in roles like this. Lavenza interacts with the Creature many times, depicting both a motherly and romantic relationship; it is definitely up to interpretation. 

One of my favorite parts of the film was the way the Creature was far more humanized because, in my opinion, it fits better this way on a screen, especially seeing the Creature be completely forced into life and never having the opportunity to die.

Some people have been complaining about this change and stating that the sympathy people feel toward the Creature is simply because Elordi plays him, but I could not disagree more.

I think a lot of people who have read the original novel also feel sympathy toward the Creature, even when he was arguably as evil as Frankenstein, but the movie amplifies this by showing more of how Frankenstein’s creation and obsession with science is something he has to pay for because of the irresponsibility and lack of empathy he worked with.

On the other hand, there is one change from the book that I did not enjoy and that is the removal of Dr. Henry Clerval’s character, who is Frankenstein’s childhood friend from Geneva. He was the most loyal character to Frankenstein and remained supportive of him throughout the novel, but was eventually murdered by the Creature and Frankenstein is blamed for it. 

Clerval is one of my favorite characters in the novel and his storyline is greatly important to Frankenstein’s character, so I would have liked to see him in this adaptation and I believe del Toro could have done a nice job casting and implementing him, but nonetheless, the movie is still an amazing watch.

Overall, the 2025 “Frankenstein” adaptation is definitely worth watching if you are interested. Its 2 and ½ hour runtime can be intimidating, especially for someone like me who tends to stray away from long films, but this one kept me hooked the whole time.

I highly recommend it to anyone who has read the novel or likes the gothic style of film that is portrayed.