“Frankenstein” partial movie poster.
Netflix
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth, premieres on Netflix on Friday. How is the film being received by Rotten Tomatoes critics?
Frankenstein held its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival on Aug. 30 before opening in limited release in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 17. The film next expanded to theaters nationwide on Oct. 24.
The logline for Frankenstein reads, “Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein (Isaac), a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature (Elordi) to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.”
Directed by del Toro, Frankenstein also stars Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen and Charles Dance.
Reviews for Frankenstein broke after the Venice premiere and Rotten Tomatoes critics initially gave the film a 79% “fresh” rating based on 19 reviews. Nearly 250 reviews have since flowed in thanks to the film’s theatrical release, and as a result, Frankenstein’s critics’ rating has improved.
As of the publication of this article, Frankenstein’s critics’ rating on RT has increased 85% “fresh” based on 267 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus for the film reads, “Finding the humanity in one of cinema’s most iconic monsters, Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein is a lavish epic that gets its most invigorating volts from Jacob Elordi’s standout performance.”
In addition, Frankenstein has earned a 95% “fresh” Popcornmeter score based on 1,000-plus verified user ratings. The RT audience summary reads, “With his legendary visual touch, Guillermo Del Toro resurrects Frankenstein as a modern Prometheus that’s gloriously gothic and heartbreaking.”
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Frankenstein’?
Brian Truitt of USA Today is among the top critics on RT who gives Frankenstein a “fresh” rating, writing of Guillermo del Toro in his review summary, “Frankenstein might just be his greatest hit, as an electrifying master pours every bit of his soul into his gorgeous creation.”
Odie Henderson of the Boston Globe also gives Frankenstein a “fresh” review on RT, writing, “This is a horror movie, but it’s also a heartbreaking tale of forced existence and the subsequent quest for answers. And it’s one of the year’s best movies.”
Also praising del Toro’s filmmaking sensibilities is Glen Weldon of NPR, who writes in his RT review summary, “While [the film] captures the tone and spirit of the original novel in all its breathless zeal and hie-me-to-yon-fainting-couch deliriousness, the many narrative tweaks del Toro has made ensure that you’d never mistake his Frankenstein for anyone else’s.”
Leonard Maltin of LeonardMaltin.com also gives Frankenstein a “fresh” review on RT, and along with it the highest of compliments, writing, “James Whale’s 1931 Frankenstein remains the classic it has always been, but Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein deserves to be absorbed and celebrated right alongside it. This is the movie he was born to make.”
Among the top critics on RT who gives Frankenstein a “rotten” rating is Jake Wilson of Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, who writes, “While [the film] captures the tone and spirit of the original novel in all its breathless zeal and hie-me-to-yon-fainting-couch deliriousness, the many narrative tweaks del Toro has made ensure that you’d never mistake his Frankenstein for anyone else’s.”
Justin Chang of The New Yorker also gives the film a “rotten” review on Rt, writing, “Just as Victor’s Harlander-funded experiment goes logistically awry, so del Toro’s Netflix-backed dream project feels, for all its beauties and intricacies, like a technologically compromised creature.”
Nikki Gemmell of The Australian isn’t a fan of the film, either, writing in her “rotten” review summary on RT, “Del Toro’s Frankenstein is an overlong, relentlessly violent and indulgent mash-up of the original. It takes the bare bones of Shelley’s story and kills its clear, clean clarity.”
Barry Hertz of the Globe and Mail also gives Frankenstein a “rotten” review on RT but does have a bit of praise for it as well, writing, “This is magnificent, no-expense-spared filmmaking … Yet when it comes to the actual story and its grand ideas, Del Toro’s Frankenstein lumbers along with barely a jolt of the necessary electricity.”
Rated R, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is new on Netflix on Friday.