Frankenstein · reception & legacy

2025 · Guillermo del Toro

How Frankenstein has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

Premiered at Venice 2025 to a rapturous ovation as the dream project del Toro had chased for over 25 years, then hit Netflix that November — where the ecstatic 'his masterpiece' first wave quickly met a 'gorgeous but toothless' backlash it's still arguing with.

What's debated

The fight is over the Creature himself: did del Toro's tender, sympathetic (and openly attractive) monster deepen the story or sand all the horror off it?

Its footprint

The internet declared Jacob Elordi's Creature hot roughly on arrival — Letterboxd reviews and social feeds filled with thirst posts and 'sexy softboi' jokes, arguably the film's biggest cultural export.

Where it stands

An instant Letterboxd fixture and a lock in the del Toro canon conversation — the long-mythologised passion project he finally got to make.

★ Did you know? Andrew Garfield was the original Creature but dropped out over post-strike scheduling, and after nine months designing his makeup del Toro recast Jacob Elordi with only about nine weeks to prepare.

Named by the director

Influences Guillermo del Toro has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

Frankenstein (1931) — Del Toro repeatedly cites Whale's film as his formative encounter with the story — seeing Karloff's creature, he said, was like seeing a saint or messiah.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) — Del Toro named Whale's sequel among the touchstones his version draws on.
Bernie Wrightson — Del Toro cited Wrightson's 1983 illustrated Frankenstein as 'the best illustrated version of the novel ever' and a key visual inspiration.