“Frankenstein” is written and directed by Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”). It stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz. With the recent Halloween season, this makes for a wonderful and inspiring movie to watch with your friends.

Based on the Mary Shelley novel, a tycoon (Waltz) gives surgeon Victor Frankenstein (Isaac) unlimited resources to invent their dream: a being that cheats death. Frankenstein successfully creates this creature (Elordi) but soon he realizes it was more than he bargained for.

While the character is known as a horror icon, this film has a Gothic and dark fantasy vibe. A horror movie focuses on terror and endangered characters, but “Frankenstein” places its emphasis on atmosphere and psychology.

It made for some picturesque production design and color. The European location shots were stunning, but some of the environments were poorly green-screened. With the slow-burn pacing, it is well-used for developing the characters’ different relationships. However, it does drags sometimes. In the first hour, Victor’s relationships were fascinating but they should’ve been spread out over the course of the movie. By the end of his story, it took some of the excitement away from making his monster.. There was a clear rise in quality when his story finished and the Creature’s story started. One of the movie’s best scenes is the Creature’s birth. It is beautiful, with the editing clearly having passion behind it.

For a number of reasons, Jacob Elordi was the best guy for the job. You couldn’t imagine this heartthrob playing a mangled monster would work, but it does. His thin and large physique certainly made for the right appearance but he touchingly played different sides of the character: his initial innocence, his later grudge, and his constant misery. His relationships with Elizabeth (Goth) and a blind old man showed that, with the right nurturing, he could bring good to the world. Even though he was a result of his creator’s god complex, Elizabeth’s dovish outlook helped him become the best version of himself.

It’s only when he’s stereotyped or abused that he shows his dangerous side. He was less of a monster and more of a gentle giant. It’s ironic his creator, Victor, is more of a monster than him. Victor became so obsessed with outdoing his father’s work, that he became as abusive and controlling as he was.

“Frankenstein” is a superb thrill, with the best part being the effects characters have on each other’s psychology and philosophy. There’s this thought-provoking message in the movie, almost in a way that brings religion to mind. That message is “To what point does controlling the natural things become unethical?”

It is streaming now on Netflix.