The Stream: It’s way too long and seems to peter out in the end.

The Big Screen: It looks great and has some solid acting.

The Final Bill: A solid monster flick with emotional resonance even if it is too long.

– S2S: Movie Review
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Guillermo del Toro based on a novel by Mary Shelley
Stars: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Rating: R (Violence, Gore)
Runtime: 2 hours and 21 minutes
Production Companies: Bluegrass Films, Demilo Films, Double Dare You (DDY)
Platform: Released on Netflix November 7, 2025
Coming Soon to Netflix: In Waves and War, A Merry Little Ex-Mas, In Your Dreams, NOUVELLE VAGUE, One Shot with Ed Sheeran: A Music Experience, Jingle Bell Heist,

Welcome back, Streamers! We’ve finally watched this late Halloween movie from the great Guillermo Del Toro, Frankenstein. As many know the story of Frankenstein, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist, brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

Let’s start with the obvious. Has Guillermo ever truly put out anything that’s mess? Or even more specifically, a project that looked like a hot mess? The answer, of course, is no. He’s got a style and imagination all of his own, and Frankenstein is no different. However, at times, it unfortunately feels exactly like other films del Toro’s done like The Shape of Water. Monster looking for companionship and where they fit in the world. To that extent, del Toro is repeating himself, which makes this movie feel like a retread and mid, at best. The rest is quite magical. The film looks great. The action sequences are crisp and hard-hitting. The actors, minus the Monster, are pretty excellent. You know exactly what you’re always going to get from Christoph Waltz. Oscar Isaac over the years has proven he’s a pretty great actor and this follows that path. And, surprisingly Mia Goth wasn’t so bad herself as Claire Frankenstein. The issue becomes that the move really is way too long for the basic story we are presented. The storytelling is good; but, at a certain point, can we wrap this up. Then, at the end, with the pay-off they do just wrap it up and its super anti-climactic. But that is kind of par for the course with some of Guillermo’s movies. It has all the bells and whistles, but it doesn’t seem to know how to land properly.

Long, long story short, Frankenstein is a known story given the Guillermo del Toro vision update. Obviously, it’s worth the watch but runtime and the final payoff dim the need to run to this movie. It’s beautiful to look at with great action sequences, too; but, the basic story feels dragged out to fill this long runtime. Grab a big box of popcorn for this streaming film!