Frankenstein is one of those stories that’s been retold countless times. And yet, Guillermo del Toro has managed to make a version that not only feels true to Mary Shelley’s original, but is also imbued with the trademarks the director is known for.
Maybe that shouldn’t be too surprising — when presenting the film at its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, del Toro explained that he has been thinking about Frankenstein since he was seven years old, but it wasn’t until he became a father that he truly understood how to tell the version of the story he wanted to. Well, all that time paid off.
On day 5 of TIFF I also managed to check out a charmingly heartbreaking drama about the afterlife, and a slightly confused action comedy set in a very small and not normal town. You can check out my thoughts on all three films below (I’ll have a more in-depth review of Frankenstein later on).
You know the story by now: troubled genius Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is able to imbue life into a creature stitched together from dead bodies (Jacob Elordi), only to shun his creation, who is in turn shunned by the rest of society and viewed as a monster. Del Toro’s Frankenstein doesn’t change the basics, but it expands the story in fascinating ways. There’s deeper insight into Victor’s mania, and a surprisingly detailed account of the logistics of reanimation, which helps ground the fantastical tale. The biggest shift, though, is that there’s a clearly defined father-son structure to the relationship, turning the creature into an even more tragic figure. And of course, the film looks incredible, with haunting designs for everything from the costumes to the caskets.
In select theaters on October 17th, streaming on Netflix on November 7th.
Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) just died, and now she has an impossible choice to make: whether to spend eternity with her first husband who died young (Callum Turner) or her second husband, who she built a life with over 65 years (Miles Teller). It’s technically a film about the afterlife — which is rendered like a train station from the ‘70s, and is burdened by all kinds of strangely strict rules — but Eternity is more of a surprisingly funny tear jerker about different kinds of love, and what it means to really find your person. It also left me guessing up until its final moment, which gave me actual chills.
In select theaters on November 14th, wider release on November 26th.
When a town has a name like Normal, Minnesota, you just know it’s hiding a dark secret. In this case it is connected to a deal with the yakuza in Osaka, and unfortunately interim sheriff Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk) gets caught up in it. In theory, the premise is a bit like Hot Fuzz crossed with Fargo, but unfortunately Normal isn’t near as entertaining as either. It’s both too absurd and not absurd enough; the story is plagued with hard-to-believe coincidences, and it’s not as fun as its ridiculous premise should be. At least there’s some good, bloody action courtesy John Wick creator Derek Kolstad, who penned the story.
No word yet on a wider release.
