A new adaptation of “Frankenstein” has recently come to Netflix. “Frankenstein” (2025) introduces a new take on the 1818 novel by Mary Shelley.
This movie, which is rated R, was released on the streaming platform on Nov. 7. To the relief of many fans, the movie stayed relatively accurate to the book, but there were still a few key differences that led to slight alterations in the plot.
To begin on a positive note, I was immediately excited when the movie began by following the structure of the novel. Like the book, the movie was separated into the storylines of Captain Robert Walton in the epilogue, part one as Victor Frankenstein’s story and part two as the Monster’s side of the story.
This is a small detail, but it is essential from a storytelling point of view. The epilogue sets the rest of the movie up perfectly to jump back and forth between Frankenstein telling the story of how he created the Monster and the present events taking place on Walton’s ship.
As mentioned before, the actual plot of Frankenstein’s and the Monster’s stories remained very similar to that of the book, something that always makes readers happy. There were, however, a few details that were noticeably absent.
The biggest change is the shocking absence of Frankenstein’s childhood best friend, Henry Clerval. In addition to being a constant supporter of Frankenstein throughout the novel, Clerval also served as a foil to his character, something that is lacking in his absence.
Without his friend to be the voice of reason, this movie’s Frankenstein has his obsession fed into by a new character, Henrich Harlander, the man funding his experiment.
The director of this movie also strayed from the original story with certain choices made regarding the deaths of other characters close to Frankenstein. The novel describes how, after the Monster’s requests for a female companion were denied, he proceeded to hunt down everyone Frankenstein cared about and murdered them as punishment.
In this new film, however, the Monster only intentionally killed one person close to Frankenstein, that being his younger brother, William Frankenstein. The death of Harlander was a tragic accident that was arguably indirectly caused by Victor.
More importantly, the death of Elizabeth Lavenza, William’s fiancée and the woman Victor is in love with, is caused directly by Victor accidentally shooting her while aiming for the Monster.
These creative changes tie into a theme throughout the movie of Victor being the true monster.
This idea is touched on in the book and comes down, in part, to the reader’s interpretation, but in the movie, it is blatantly obvious. In fact, William’s dying words to his brother are, “you were the monster.”
Despite these changes, the movie was overall incredible. It was visually stunning; the mostly dark colors were often disrupted by shocking shades of red, often in the form of blood or fire, and blues and greens from Elizabeth’s dresses. The settings of the film contributed to creating a serious, slightly disturbing atmosphere.
Performances by the actors tied the whole thing together, especially Oscar Isaac, who was incredible at portraying Victor’s descent into madness, and Jacob Elordi, who successfully embodied the lurching movements of The Monster.
Well-done adaptations of classic novels into movies have always held a special place in my heart, and “Frankenstein” (2025) has proved to be no exception.
Delaney Smith is a First-Year is majoring in English literature and English creative writing and minoring in history and law, justice and society
