--- title: Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' Humanizes the Monster description: Del Toro's Creature carries out barely any of the deeds that paint him as a monster following his abandonment in Mary Shelley's novel. canonical: https://time.com/7325765/frankenstein-movie-guillermo-del-toro-creature-ending/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-17T17:37:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:51:19.537Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein Serves Up a Creature Mary Shelley Might Not Recognize og:description: Del Toro's Creature carries out barely any of the deeds that paint him as a monster following his abandonment in Mary Shelley's novel. og:url: https://time.com/7325765/frankenstein-movie-guillermo-del-toro-creature-ending/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd163ecc175505339/6998cacc47fe514a6c55c2bc/Frankenstein.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Frankenstein-Creature og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein Serves Up a Creature Mary Shelley Might Not Recognize twitter:description: Del Toro's Creature carries out barely any of the deeds that paint him as a monster following his abandonment in Mary Shelley's novel. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd163ecc175505339/6998cacc47fe514a6c55c2bc/Frankenstein.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Guillermo del Toro's _Frankenstein_ Serves Up a Creature Mary Shelley Might Not Recognize > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 17, 2025 5:37 PM UTC  Jacob Elordi as the Creature in Frankenstein. Jacob Elordi as the Creature in Frankenstein.Ken Woroner—Netflix  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 17, 2025 5:37 PM UTC **_Warning: This post contains spoilers for_** [**Frankenstein**](https://time.com/7313549/frankenstein-review-guillermo-del-toro/?itm%5Fsource=parsely-api)**_._** "Believe me, Frankenstein, I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity, but am I not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow creatures, who owe me nothing? They spurn and hate me." If you had to sum up the overarching thesis of writer-director [Guillermo del Toro's](https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217579/guillermo-del-toro/) _Frankenstein_ film with one line from Mary Shelley's seminal 1818 novel, the above quote would certainly be a worthy candidate. Considering del Toro has made a career of subverting the idea that monsters are inherently villainous—think previous offerings like [_Pan's Labyrinth_](https://time.com/collection/100-best-movies/6296100/pans-labyrinth-2006/) and Best Picture winner [_The Shape of Water_](https://time.com/4923582/the-shape-of-water-guillermo-del-toro-review/)—and has described the so-called Creature from Shelley's gothic horror classic as his ["patron saint,"](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/frankenstein-book-adaptation-guillermo-del-toro#:~:text=In%20Guillermo%20del%20Toro's%20Frankenstein,key%20with%20a%20different%20emotion.”) it makes sense this would be the thematic thread he would choose to tug on. But if you're a Shelley purist, you may take issue with how infrequentlydel Toro's Creature takes actions that could actually be considered monstrous in the first place. While Shelley presents the Creature as a being who is robbed of his innocence by his creator's neglect and society's prejudice, she still finds him ultimately responsible for his own vengeful rage and the horrific crimes he commits in response to his rejection. In del Toro's _Frankenstein_, in select theaters Oct. 17 and streaming on Netflix Nov. 7, the Creature (played by Jacob Elordi) carries out barely any of the same evil deeds he does in the novel. On the page, these serve to paint him in a monstrous light following his abandonment by his egotistical and cruel creator, Victor Frankenstein ([Oscar Isaac](https://time.com/3687287/oscar-isaacs-big-break/)). On-screen, this creates a distinctly different result. "I’ve lived with Mary Shelley’s creation all my life," del Toro told [Netflix's Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/frankenstein-book-adaptation-guillermo-del-toro#:~:text=In%20Guillermo%20del%20Toro's%20Frankenstein,key%20with%20a%20different%20emotion.”) of his approach to the source material. "For me, it’s the Bible. But I wanted to make it my own, to sing it back in a different key with a different emotion." **Read More:** [_Guillermo del Toro’s_ Frankenstein _May Be Grand, But It’s Not Quite Great_](https://time.com/7313549/frankenstein-review-guillermo-del-toro/?itm%5Fsource=parsely-api) ## How is del Toro's Creature different from Shelley's?  (L-R): Jacob Elordi as the Creature and Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein. Ken Woroner—Netflix In Shelley's book, the Creature either directly murders or is responsible for the deaths of several innocent people as part as his quest for vengeance against Victor. His victims include Victor's younger brother William, who is only a child and much younger than the movie's adult William (played by Felix Kammerer); Justine Moritz, a young woman who is executed after being framed for William's murder by the Creature; Victor's best friend Henry; and Victor's fiancée Elizabeth, who is engaged to William in the movie instead of his brother. Del Toro, on the other hand, portrays the Creature as a far more empathetic and compassionate figure. When he pays Victor a visit to beg for a companion on what is supposed to be William and Elizabeth's wedding day, Victor ends up framing the Creature for the murder of Elizabeth(Mia Goth)—one of the few people to ever show him kindness and understanding—after Victor accidentally shoots her himself. From the moment the Creature is brought to life, his existence is defined by torment and pain. Yet, in the movie, the only person he truly targets in return is Victor. While there are some additional casualties, like the sailors manning the Horizon who try to attack him to defend Victor, his ire never extends to Victor's family and friends. ## What about the ending of del Toro's _Frankenstein_?  Nikolaj Lie Kaas as chief officer of the Horizon in Frankenstein. Netflix By the time Victor is chasing the Creature across the Arctic in the final section of the movie, it's difficult not to be fully on the side of the latter. Still, after creator and creation recount their experiences to each other, the Creature finds it in his heart to forgive Victor. He also comes to the conclusion that since he is incapable of dying—unlike in the book, in which he is able to commit suicide by fire—he must find a way to truly live. "\[The Creature\] decides that, regardless of all the hell and the anguish and the suffering…he's going to live," [Elordi said of his character's fate at _Frankenstein_'s premiere earlier this month](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2025/10/08/frankenstein-premiere-interviews-jacob-elordi/86560770007/). "I carry that with me after making the film, and I'm incredibly grateful to Guillermo for sort of singing that song of hope." In the book, Victor and the Creature are both monsters in their own right who push each other to succumb to their worst impulses. They also never get the chance to hear each other's sides of the story, and Victor dies on the ship in the Arctic wishing he could've put an end to his creation. Once the Creature learns about his creator's demise, he expresses regret for his wrongs and resolves to self-immolate on a pyre in order to rid the world of a body society has shunned—a result of science unrestrained by empathy—and find the only peace available to him. According to del Toro, the choice to end the movie on a more optimistic note than the novel was borne from his own life. In an interview with the [Toronto _Star_](https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/in-frankenstein-guillermo-del-toro-confronts-the-monster-in-the-mirror/article%5Fb46038af-3917-528e-91a4-acac7fe69582.html), he described his _Frankenstein_ as the story of the "chain of pain" that fathers pass down to their sons and how challenging it is to break those generational patterns of behavior. "If I’d made it when I was younger, it would have just been the gripes of a son toward a father," he said. "Now it’s about the desire for forgiveness of a father who was originally a son, and who realizes life has thrown him into a role he’s not fulfilling...That’s very biographical. That’s not in the book. That’s not Mary Shelley. That’s me." ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7325765/frankenstein-movie-guillermo-del-toro-creature-ending/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7325765/frankenstein-movie-guillermo-del-toro-creature-ending/"},"headline":"Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein Serves Up a Creature Mary Shelley Might Not Recognize","datePublished":"2025-10-17T17:37:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:51:19.537Z","description":"Del Toro's Creature carries out barely any of the deeds that paint him as a monster following his abandonment in Mary Shelley's novel.","url":"https://time.com/7325765/frankenstein-movie-guillermo-del-toro-creature-ending/","keywords":["movies","Explainer","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd163ecc175505339/6998cacc47fe514a6c55c2bc/Frankenstein.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd163ecc175505339/6998cacc47fe514a6c55c2bc/Frankenstein.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Frankenstein-Creature","caption":"Jacob Elordi as the Creature in 'Frankenstein.'","creditText":"Ken Woroner—Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7325765/frankenstein-movie-guillermo-del-toro-creature-ending/","name":"Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein Serves Up a Creature Mary Shelley Might Not Recognize"}}]}] ```