Frankenstein (2025)

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bother with a gothic horror film, but something about this one was different.

The essence of the story is told in this trailer. It’s a serious business, creating life. And when it’s done too well, the creature cannot die, and so it must live for eternity. It’s an allegory of our lives here on earth.

Here’s an image from the film, where the creature is contemplating the skull of a dead soldier, before it puts on his coat. This picture reminds me of Paul Bettany as Vision in the film “WandaVision”.

Over the years we’ve seen different versions of Mary Shelley’s story. Supposedly, Kenneth Branagh’s version was closest to her original book, but I think Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining is superb. And the interplay between the creature and Elizabeth is special,, too (shades of “The Shape of Water”).My first thought was “Beauty and the Beast”.

We have come a long way from the original film starring Lon Chaney. I think we have more sympathy for the creature now. And the true monster is the creator.

*Spoiler alert*