Mia Goth in Netflix’s ‘Frankenstein’
Netflix
Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein makes major changes to the story of Mary Shelley’s original novel, and some proved controversial.
In some ways, Del Toro’s monster is more faithful to the eloquent, philosophically-minded creature of the book—pop culture has long depicted Frankenstein’s monster as a grunting, lumbering oaf.
However, the plot of the Netflix film is significantly different to the original story—here’s how Del Toro’s Frankenstein departs from the novel.
Differences Between Netflix’s ‘Frankenstein’ And The Novel, Explained
In the Netflix film, Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is shown to be the genius son of an abusive father (Charles Dance), and is severely traumatized by the death of his mother, who is essentially murdered by his father’s medical neglect.
This fateful tragedy motivates Victor to become obsessed with mastering life and death via science, while his father’s influence can be seen in the way he “parents” the monster.
This is in stark contrast to Mary Shelley’s novel, which shows that Victor enjoyed an immensely happy childhood with two loving parents. Victor’s mother also dies young, but Victor’s ambition to create unnatural life is motivated by his obsession with alchemy.
Once Victor Frankenstein brings his creature to life, he doesn’t abuse it, but he abandons it immediately, simply because it looks and feels wrong.
The Monster’s Appearance
The iconic image of Frankenstein’s monster that we see in pop culture comes from the 1931 film starring Boris Karloff, whose creature is a dim-witted, square-headed zombie, stitched together from corpse parts.
Closeup of Boris Karloff as the monster in a scene from “Frankenstein”.
Bettmann Archive
Del Toro’s monster (played by Jacob Elordi) is covered with scars and seams, with blueish skin and a neanderthal brow—he eventually grows long, thick hair, giving him a more romantic, haunted vibe than previous depictions.
Jacob Elordi as the monster in Netflix’s ‘Frankenstein’
Netflix
The original novel describes the creature as having stretched yellow skin, bright white teeth, watery eyes and blackened lips. Interestingly, the novel does not state that the monster is stitched together from corpses.
Mary Shelley is surprisingly vague when describing how Frankenstein actually made his monster, leaving much of the process to the imagination.
There are hints that Victor might have used old bones and body parts to build the structure of the body, but it seems as though he is creating much of the flesh himself, using a mysterious alchemical process.
The book sees Victor Frankenstein attempt to create a beautiful person, but when the creature comes to life, it invokes the uncanny valley, rather like an AI-generated image, and Victor abandons his creation.
The Monster’s Personality
While Del Toro is faithful to the intelligence and brooding melancholy of Shelley’s monster, his Netflix adaptation takes great pains to portray the creature as completely innocent, and Victor as the indisputable villain of the story.
Shelley’s novel is far more ambiguous regarding the morality of Victor and his monster—both prove more than capable of violence, cowardice, and selfishness.
However, the Netflix film frames all the death and destruction around the monster as either an accident or Victor’s fault—the monster accidentally slays Victor’s brother, William (Felix Kammerer), and Victor accidentally shoots Elizabeth (Mia Goth), who is in love with the creature.
In the book, the monster murders William (who is only a child) in anger, and frames the family housekeeper, Justine, for the murder—Victor doesn’t speak in her defense, even as she is hanged.
Instead of sharing a simmering, forbidden love affair, the monster brutally slays Elizabeth in revenge after Victor backtracks on his promise to create a monstrous bride.
Del Toro’s film sees the monster and Elizabeth pining for one another (which makes one question the monster’s need for a bride). She dies after Victor mistakenly shoots her, attempting to kill the creature.
The film flattens the complicated dynamic of the novel—two deeply troubled men, creator and monster, are reduced to the role of abusive father and innocent son.
The Ending Of ‘Frankenstein’
The ending of Del Toro’s Frankenstein sees the creator and monster sharing a moment of peace and mutual understanding.
Victor soon dies and the monster does a good deed for humanity before watching the sunrise, savoring being alive.
This is different from the ending of the book, which also sees Victor dying, but the monster bitterly regrets the terrible crimes he has committed and vows to burn himself alive (in the original story, the monster does not have the regeneration powers of the Netflix film).
Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein paints a sympathetic portrait, but it also sanitizes the creature, spelling out to the viewer that Victor is the real monster.