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Is the Oscar-winning film Frankenstein worth watching?
It’s one of the most beautiful feature films of the year. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth, first premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, before coming out on Netflix. This gothic cinematic gem has just received three Oscars on March 15th, 2026. Here’s an overview of this dark, mesmerising fresco.
and Violaine Schütz.
Published on 5 November 2025. Updated on 16 March 2026.
Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro’s film acclaimed at the Oscars
We’d been waiting and he’s finally here. For over ten years, director Guillermo del Toro has dreamed of bringing his own vision of the myth of Frankenstein to life. That dream has now come true. The Mexican filmmaker, who already won an Oscar for The Shape of Water (2017), has always been fascinated by tragic monsters, wounded souls, and haunted mythologies.
Taking on Frankenstein’s monster, a character first created by novelist Mary Shelley in 1818, was an obvious choice. After years of stalled development, rumors and hesitant studios, Netflix finally gave the green light to this film adaptation, which promised lots of poetry and darkness.
The film was highly-anticipated at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, held from August 27th to September 6th, 2025. Numéro then watched it at the Cinémathèque française last October, in the presence of the filmmaker and the cast. Now that the feature has just won three Oscars for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling on March 15, 2026, let’s look back at this ambitious gothic fresco.
Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth… A breathtaking cast
It is safe to say that Guillermo del Toro delivers a gothic and bloody production that can be qualified as both marvellous and ambitious. Featuring expressionist sets, meticulously crafted pale-toned lighting, and flamboyant costumes, the film has nothing to envy of other productions made for dark theatre rooms.
But the true triumph of this twilight-hued Frankenstein, which reportedly costed $120 million, lies in its spellbinding trio of actors. Oscar Isaac (Dune) plays Victor Frankenstein, a scientist consumed by his mad ambition to defy death and a heartbroken, hopeless lover, who fell for his brother’s wife. He is the one who brings the “monster” to life by assembling him from deceased human bodies. The egotistical creator eventually proves incapable of loving his “son.”
A Jacob Elordi at the top of his game
Opposite him, Jacob Elordi (Euphoria), whose figure and intensity are perfectly suited for that role, portrays a misunderstood and moving monster whose gaze and humanity breaks our hearts. The scenes in the wild, whether with an old man or among rats, his only friends, radiate a haunting beauty. Transformed by hours in the makeup chair, the actor delivers one of his finest performances, miles away from the heartthrob roles of his past.
Also worth noting are the mesmerizing appearances by actress Mia Goth (MaXXXine), often a muse of the strange, who stuns us wearing a whimsical blue dress with Tiffany & Co. jewellery or a gothic red princess gown. Initially meant to play three roles, she ultimately takes on two – the mother of Oscar Isaac’s character, and the woman he loves in vain. While one might wish the director had given more depth to his female characters, Mia Goth’s macabre grace leaves a lasting impression, even if her screen time feels too brief. Finally, Christoph Waltz rounds up this cast in a small, yet unsettling role.
Frankenstein: a mythical cinematic monster
This star-studded cast carries a work that is one of Guillermo del Toro’s most personal ones. In a recent interview, the director described his version of Frankenstein as “a love letter to all outsiders, a meditation on fatherhood and redemption.” He tackles a question that, still today, remains relevant – “Who are the real monsters?” Monstrosity often lies where we least expect it.
Although this dark, romantic epic won us over despite a few slow moments, adapting Frankenstein was no easy task. The challenge was to contribute to an already rich tradition. Since James Whale’s 1931 masterpiece starring Boris Karloff, the novel written by Mary Shelley has been inspiring cinema, music, and art for decades. From Kenneth Branagh’s baroque take to Danny Boyle’s punk interpretation, each generation seems determined to reawaken the myth in its own way. Even Andy Warhol tried his hand at it, in a cult erotic-gore frenzy.
In music, Frankenstein becomes a metaphor for the artist and his cursed creation. Think about Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, or David Bowie‘s nods to the myth. In visual arts, the creature continues to inspire both painters and contemporary illustrators. This icon of otherness embodies the reconstructed body and rejection of norms.
On television, the myth lurks in series like Penny Dreadful or episodes of Black Mirror that explore the moral responsibilities of science. In an age of artificial intelligence, transhumanism, and digital isolation, the tale of a creature longing for love and recognition has never felt more relevant than today.
Frankenstein (2025) by Guillermo del Toro, available on Netflix.
