"Looks like the work of a madman": Guillermo del Toro's gothic fantasy Frankenstein is rated 78% on Rotten Tomatoes

Guillermo del Toro’s new film Frankenstein debuted at the Venice Film Festival and received its first critical verdict: a very controversial one, with reviews calling the work either a masterpiece or one that “came out of the hands of a madman”.

Currently, the film has 78% “freshness” on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews. Significantly lower than the Oscar-winning Pinocchio (96%) and Fright Night (80%), but higher than Pacific Rim (72%), Crimson Peak (72%), Mutants (67%) and Blade Runner 2 (57%).

Frankenstein — is a new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic 1818 novel that stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as his monstrous creation. The rest of the cast includes Mia Gott (Frankenstein’s bride Elizabeth), Christoph Waltz (Dr. Pretorius), as well as Charles Dance, Bern Gorman, David Bradley and Ralph Ineson.

Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed the movie, which he used to call his lifelong dream. It is known that Frankenstein is rated R and lasts 2 hours and 29 minutes.

It’s hard to draw any general conclusion about the reviews, as they are surprisingly contradictory. Among the positive points, Elordi’s performance, visual style and music are highlighted, while the negative ones mainly consist of “exaggerated theatrical elements” and overlong running time. Here are some direct quotes:

• “One of del Toro’s finest works, this is an epic tale of extraordinary beauty, feeling and art… The director’s renowned visual imagination, embodied in the exceptional work of the cinematographer and production designer, is a joy to behold. The bold use of color, especially the supersaturated reds and greens that scorch the shadows, is breathtaking. Meanwhile, the powerful orchestral score massages the ears.”— Davy Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter.
• “The production quality is just incredible, with great production design and characters. The movie could have been shortened, but del Toro’s sandbox is so unbeatable, the return to great Hollywood cinema so vivid, it’s probably hard to stop. Once a director of del Toro’s caliber opens up in the lab, why cut the movie short?” — Pete Hammond, Deadline.
• “The script is full of exaggerated, theatrical moments that only exist because someone thought they would look good on screen,” — Jordan Rumi of Word of Real.
• “While Frankenstein is a feast for the eyes and full of acting, it moves at a majestic pace that can be annoying.” — Jane Crowther, Games Radar.
• “As great as it is, the whole movie looks like we’re looking through a peephole. Strangely, Dan Laustsen’s wide-angle lenses make Frankenstein look smaller, when the goal was probably to fit more of the image into each frame.” — Peter Debruge Variety.
• “Whatever its flaws, the director has filled Frankenstein with seemingly everything he loves, and it reflects his obsessions. It looks like the work of a true madman,” — Billy Abiri, Vulture.

“Del Toro’s Frankenstein will be broadcast in theaters on October 17, and already On November 7, it will move to Netflix. This is a common tactic for streaming, which gives limited distribution to films that have the potential for film awards.

“Frankenstein is not the director’s first collaboration with Netflix: in 2022, they jointly released Pinocchio, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and the horror anthology The Cabinet of Curiosities by Guillermo del Toro.