FRANKENSTEIN Image Teases a Chilling New Look At Jacob Elordi's Monster
A new promo image for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein has surfaced, and it gives us the most striking look yet at Jacob Elordi as Victor Frankenstein’s tragic creation.
Netflix has yet to release a trailer for the film, and knowing the streamer, we may not even get one. Still, this latest still gives fans plenty to chew on. The shot shows Elordi’s creature from behind as he approaches Mia Goth’s Elizabeth Lavenza, and she also plays Victor’s mother in the film. It’s a haunting tease that offers a clearer idea of del Toro’s vision for the Monster.
Unlike past interpretations that leaned into the grotesque, del Toro is taking the character back to Mary Shelley’s original description.
“Victor is as much an artist as he is a surgeon, and if he’s been dreaming about this creature for all his life, he’s going to nail it,” the director explained to EW. “It looks like a newborn, alabaster creature. The scars are beautiful and almost aerodynamic.”
Del Toro went on to highlight the depth Elordi brings to the role. “One of the things I thought needed the most intelligence, emotionally, was to track the evolution of the creature,” he said.
“He said something to me that was touching and real: ‘This creature is more me than me. And people don't know that, and I'm going to be able to be myself through this.’ He brought a truth to this performance that's really something to behold.”
As for Goth, she has one of the film’s most complex roles. Not only is she playing Elizabeth, the woman Victor loves, but also Victor’s own mother. That layered casting choice is no accident.
According to Oscar Isaac, who plays Victor Frankenstein, del Toro leaned heavily into the psychology of that duality. “Guillermo would always be like, ‘He wants that lechita.’ When everything goes wrong, he just wants that mama’s milk. (To drive the point home, Goth plays both Victor’s mother and Elizabeth, the woman he falls in love with who happens to be betrothed to his brother.)”
At its core, Frankenstein follows Isaac’s brilliant yet arrogant scientist as he brings life to Elordi’s creature, sparking a tragic downfall for both creator and creation.
For del Toro, the film represents a lifelong dream. “This film concludes a quest that started at age 7, when I saw James Whale’s Frankenstein films for the first time. I felt the jolt of recognition in that seminal moment: Gothic horror became my church, and Boris Karloff my Messiah,” he said when the project was first announced.
Frankenstein will receive a limited theatrical release on October 17 before its global debut on Netflix November 7.