Guillermo del Toro’s long-gestating film Frankenstein (2025) is a sweeping, gothic, based on a novel by Mary Shelley’s from 1818 that blends tragedy, spectacle and gruesome creature-making.
The film is written and directed by del Toro and stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as the Creature, with Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz in key supporting roles. It runs roughly 149–150 minutes, features music by Alexandre Desplat and cinematography by Dan Laustsen, and was produced for Netflix with a limited theatrical run before streaming.
Guillermo del Toro returns to the director’s chair with an emotionally intense, big-budget adaptation that treats Shelley’s tale as a European travelogue of despair and wonder. Oscar Isaac’s Victor Frankenstein is not only a scientist but a son shaped by family, faith and grief; Jacob Elordi’s Creature is deliberately closer to Shelley’s literary description (pale, newborn-like, wounded) than to the flat-top Hollywood monster.
Production values are lavish — opulent stately homes, wide landscapes and finely detailed practical makeup and prosthetics — and del Toro has said he intended this to be an “incredibly emotional” film rather than a straight horror show. Netflix distributed the film after a festival rollout, and it is available to stream on Netflix following its theatrical window.
Why Frankenstein is Rated R?
Frankenstein is Rated R for bloody violence and grisly images.
- Graphic and sustained violence: battlefield scenes, dismemberments, visible organs, and reanimation sequences showing bodies being cut open and reassembled. Visuals are often explicit rather than merely implied.
- Gore and injury detail: close-up injury detail, exposed brain matter in some sequences, and scenes of corpses and post-mortem manipulation (surgical or alchemical).
- Threat and horror: stalking, executions (brief but disturbing imagery), wolf attacks and set-piece chases that create sustained threat.
- Brief nudity and sexual/medical references: natural nudity appears briefly; the film includes explicit descriptions or references to syphilis, procreation and sexual history that feed into the plot.
- Strong thematic weight: grief, persecution, philosophical questions about life, responsibility and the ethics of creation — material that is emotionally heavy and may be upsetting to younger viewers.
These are the precise content points that led classification boards and parents’ guides to assign an R rating; it isn’t just “dark tone” — the film contains explicit imagery and violence that many adolescents and younger viewers will find disturbing.
What Parents Need to Know
Below are the major content beats you’ll want to know about if you’re deciding whether to watch or let a teen watch Frankenstein.
Violence & Gore — frequent and graphically staged
Expect multiple sequences of brutal physical violence: battlefield carnage, bodies opened and sewn together, and scenes where organs and bone are visible. There are also attacks by animals and by human antagonists; in at least one scene people are hanged and the camera briefly lingers on corpses. These moments are not stylized away — del Toro leans into the Grand Guignol tradition at times, which is why the BBFC and the MPA highlight “injury detail.”
Laboratory and reanimation scenes — disturbing body imagery
A core piece of the film is the construction and “birth” of the Creature. Sequences show parts being assembled, medical devices and processes used to restart life, plus images of cadaveric tissue. These are presented as part of the narrative’s emotional logic, not as cheap shock — but they are graphic.
Psychological horror and threat — sustained intensity
Beyond gore, the film sustains an atmosphere of threat: characters are hunted, towns become hostile to the Creature, and there are several chase and siege scenes that generate anxiety rather than jump scares. These are effective and there are moments that younger viewers could find traumatic.
Nudity, sex and sexual references — brief but explicit in language
There is limited natural nudity (brief glimpses) and at least one explicit conversation about venereal disease and sexual consequences. These are small in screen time but explicit in tone and relevance.
Language and adult themes — moderate profanity, heavy themes
The script includes some strong language and repeated swearing in charged scenes. The film’s themes — death, existential guilt, ostracism, abuse and revenge — are mature and demand emotional maturity to process.
Who should — and shouldn’t — watch Frankenstein
This is not an “edge case”: the film is aimed at adults and mature older teens. Use these simple buckets.
- Appropriate for: Adults and mature teens (17+) who are comfortable with graphic cinematic violence, historical disease references, emotional tragedy and philosophical questions about life and responsibility. Fans of del Toro’s aesthetic, literary adaptations and actor-led performances (Isaac, Elordi) will find it rewarding.
- Approach with caution: Younger teens (13–16) who are emotionally sensitive, who react strongly to gore or to depictions of death, or who are unsettled by body horror. If a parent is considering showing this to a 15–16-year-old, watch it first and be prepared to pause and discuss difficult scenes.
- Not appropriate for: Children under 13, and many under-16 viewers. The combination of graphic injuries and mature subject matter makes this film unsuitable as family entertainment.
Tips for Parents
- Preview first: If you’re unsure about how a teen might react, screen it on your own or read the BBFC/MPA/Kids-in-Mind scene notes.
- Watch together & debrief: Several scenes revolve around ethical choices and grief — these make for useful post-viewing conversations about responsibility, science and empathy. Discuss the difference between cinematic reanimation and real science, and make space for feelings about loss and violence.
- Skip or fast-forward: If your streaming device lets you skip by chapter, consider fast-forwarding through the most graphic lab or battlefield sequences. The film is long; choosing a quieter hour for viewing reduces the chance of upsetting younger viewers.
Editor’s Note
Frankenstein (2025) is a major studio-level literary adaptation that trades on Guillermo del Toro’s strengths: detailed worldbuilding, humanist monsters and a director’s eye for tactile horror. It is not for the squeamish or for family movie night.
If you love gothic adaptations that ask painful moral questions and you can handle explicit imagery, this is an ambitious, emotionally resonant film. If you or a household member reacts badly to gore, dismemberment, or images of invasive surgery and death, give this one a hard pass — or wait until they’re older.