Let me be clear: It's not that I would ever doubt that Guillermo del Toro could make a visually sumptuous horror film — the Oscar-winning director's filmography is stunning proof, from Pan's Labyrinth to The Shape of Water to Nightmare Alley.
Rather, my concerns about the filmmaker's latest project, an adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 classic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, is because it's such well-trodden territory — there are reportedly 190 known films featuring some version or interpretation of the character of Frankenstein's monster. And when I heard that said creature would be portrayed in Del Toro's version by Euphoria hunk Jacob Elordi, I was admittedly perplexed by the overall vision.
However, those worries were assuaged when I saw the new Frankenstein trailer, and heard the cast speak about their experiences on the film, during the Netflix Tudum 2025 event, which aired live on the streamer on Sunday evening. Del Toro was joined onstage by actors Oscar Isaac (portraying legendary scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein) and Mia Goth (as Victor's wife Elizabeth) to introduce the clip, a gloriously brooding, thunder-clapping teaser of all the gothic goodness to come.
During the Netflix event, Del Toro revealed that he's been dreaming of Mary Shelley’s classic monster since he was a young boy and that it's taken him decades to finally adapt the beloved novel, and that faithfulness is felt even in the two-minute teaser trailer, which highlights puts Isaac front and center as Victor deals with the achievement and anguish of his monstrous experiment.
And the trailer smartly only gives coy glimpses at Elordi's monster, utilizing the actor's powerful six-foot-five frame and animalistic growl to create a terrifying and tragic character without even seeing his face. Fans got to see more of the actor in a pre-recorded message during the Tudum live event, greeting both studio and at-home audiences. Elsewhere, Goth did tease to The Hollywood Reporter that Elordi was in the makeup chair for hours each day to prepare for filming, and Isaac called his performance "a graceful, beautiful, sad and rageful portrait of this creature."
Beyond Isaac, Elordi and Goth, the Frankenstein cast includes Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), Felix Kammerer (All Quiet on the Western Front), Lars Mikkelsen (The Witcher), David Bradley (Harry Potter), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth) and Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds).
Del Toro fans, this writer included, will get to see the filmmaker's new Frankenstein adaptation in all of its gloomy glory when the film hits Netflix this November.
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