Frankenstein Reviews: What critics are saying about Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein ahead of its release
After shooting around Scotland in 2024, the first reviews for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein are in.
After shooting in Edinburgh last year, the first reviews for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein are in.
The Mexican filmmaker has been working on adapting Mary Shelley’s science fiction novel for more than a decade, with the Netflix film soon set for both theatrical and streaming release later this year. To adapt the iconic book, del Toro brought production to Scotland, shooting in locations including Edinburgh and the North East to bring his vision to life.
Starring Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature, with other cast members including Mia Goth, Charles Dance and Christoph Waltz, the film premiered at Venice Film Festival on August 30 - Shelley’s birthday. According to several media outlets, Frankenstein received an enthusiastic near 15-minute standing ovation from the audience.
With early reviews now in - and several mentions of Edinburgh’s appearance - here’s what critics have said about Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, so far.
What are Frankenstein reviews saying?
While there has been plenty of praise for del Toro’s mastery of filmmaking – from his practical sets and locations to his visual artistry – some elements haven’t quite landed with critics, despite a largely positive response overall.
Giving the movie 3-stars, the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw wrote that del Toro’s Frankenstein is a “a bombastic but watchable new version of Mary Shelley’s great novel” which he has turned into a “stately melodrama” with a drawn out runtime.
Bradshaw gives praise to the “utterly distinctive” visual style of del Toro, but remarks it somewhat “impedes the energy of horror”.
Also awarding the film 3-stars, the Independent’s Geoffrey Macnab found del Toro’s Frankenstein to be “visually stunning but thematically lacking”.
The critic admires and acknowledges del Toro’s craft, particularly the “lovingly detailed” film locations – with Edinburgh highlighted – as well as costumes and some of its stars, though overall he concluded that “Frankenstein is ultimately short of the voltage needed really to bring it to life”.
One of the only critics to take issue with its visuals, in his review for Variety, Peter Debruge wrote: “del Toro has gone back to the book for his two-and-a-half-hour magnum opus, which cost more than ‘Titanic’ and still looks like it was made for TV (as much as that pains me to say)”.
And while he reassures readers that the director “remains a cinematic master”, he declared that Frankenstein “proves visually ravishing, but can’t measure up to the impossibly high expectations del Toro’s fans have for the project”.
However, there are also a number of more positive reviews of Frankenstein to dive into.
“It feels like the work of a true madman,” is how Bilge Ebiri describes Frankenstein for Vulture. The critic found that Jacob Elordi was able to make the Creature’s well-known journey feel “fresh, vital, new”, adding that Frankenstein is a “a momentous technical achievement” for del Toro.
The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin awarded the film 5-stars, calling it a “free if faithful-in-spirit adaptation”. With specific mention of Isaac’s “monstrous “ Frankenstein, as well as Elordi’s physicality being put to “supremely haunting” use as the Creature, the critic wrote that overall the film justifies its runtime.
Writing for Deadline, Pete Hammond said that “Elordi is very fine in quite a different kind of role for him” and that as Frankenstein “Isaac is enormously fun to watch”. He added that while the film’s runtime was long “once a filmmaker on the scale of del Toro gets unleashed in the lab, why cut it short?”.
“Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ is a breathtaking coup,” wrote Glenn Kenny in his 4-star review of the film for Roger Ebert, dismissing those who say that artists should avoid taking on their dream projects. With its design a clear stand-out among almost all early Frankenstein reviews, he adds that it “constantly hits you with surprising bits of visual synchronicity”.
“Del Toro’s film is unquestionably one of the most beautifully crafted films you’ll see this year,” wrote James Mottram in his 5-star review for Radio Times. Throwing around words such as “masterpiece”, the critic said that Frankenstein is a “beautiful adaptation of the classic novel”.
And writing for the Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney said that Frankenstein is “one of del Toro’s finest” which “begs to be experienced on the big screen”.
When is Frankenstein coming out?
Frankenstein will be released in select UK cinemas ahead of its streaming release this November.
Heading to a limited number of theatres from Friday, October 17 it will then lurch onto Netflix from 8am on Friday, November 7.
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