“Perhaps now, we can both be human”
SPOILERS
Frankenstein is rich with a macabre beauty—a heart and soul—beating and human. In the film, Death takes an enchanting form that denounces the ugliness and monstrosity of patriarchal arrogance. Victor, played by Oscar Isaac, personifies perhaps the greatest malfunction of creation—fear. Particularly of what we don’t understand, which drives us to commit unspeakable crimes against humanity and nature. Guillermo del Toro accentuates the poignant alienation of otherness, but also its ethereal beauty that most aren’t patient or compassionate enough to comprehend. The yearning to be wanted, understood, and in control of one’s life moved me to tears. These heart-wrenching themes and gothic elements evoke films like Edward Scissorhands (1990), Corpse Bride (2005), and Sweeney Todd (2007). It was truly stunning, as morbidly beautiful as his Pinocchio (2022).
Del Toro’s reimagining of Mary Shelley’s tale underscores the patriarchal assault on the female body and its gruesome aftermath. Victor, the motherly abomination, christens his creation–made of human parts–a monster. He even baptizes the man-made newborn in sunlight, only to regard the life, conceived by unnatural means, as alien. Victor violates the laws of nature, disregards the consequences of claiming power that is not male but inherently female. In the process, he doesn’t just amputate his own humanity, he mutilates Creature’s (Jacob Elordi)—punishes his child for the sins of the father who presumed and failed to conquer the power of the mother. Creature is not the product of bodily autonomy, rather its defilement. He is an extension of his maker–the true monster–who, in his lust to undermine death, overlooked the price of life. Victor was denied the love of his father. He still grieves the loss of his doting mother, and goes on to deny his own son the love they both deserved. Monsters replicate monsters–neglected and vengeful. But through mutual understanding, they wash away the brute to reveal the human beneath. And it’s there where the true beauty of our existence lies—in our capacity to forgive.
8/10
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