Guillermo del Toro Teases ‘Incredibly Emotional’ ‘Frankenstein’ at Cannes: ‘I’m Not Doing a Horror Movie’

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In Guillermo del Toro‘s adaptation of “Frankenstein,” he’s choosing a gentler, more compassionate portrayal for the central undead being.

During a chat at the Cannes Film Festival with renowned composer Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro was asked whether his new film contains particularly frightening moments. Del Toro responded by admitting that he had never before pondered this question. He explained that the story is deeply emotional for him, being extremely personal, and it explores questions about fatherhood and sonship. Contrary to speculation, del Toro clarified that his film is not a horror movie; instead, he is simply telling a story.

As a devoted admirer, I recently had the privilege of witnessing Desplat and del Toro share insights about their creative partnership on cinematic masterpieces such as “The Shape of Water” and the upcoming “Pinocchio”, emphasizing the crucial impact of music in filmmaking. Their latest project, “Frankenstein”, slated for release by Netflix this autumn, promises to be another remarkable collaboration. It seems they are united in steering clear of conventional frightening elements in their interpretation of Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel, Frankenstein.

Guillermo’s films have a very poetic quality, and my compositions share that same poetic essence. As a result, I believe that the score for ‘Frankenstein’ will be incredibly moving and expressive… I’m not aiming to create terrifying music.

They haven’t agreed on the final points, but they seem to be nearing a conclusion. Del Toro mentioned, “We’re tapping into the emotions.” What he can share is that for him, it’s a deeply emotional film.

In the movies directed by Guillermo del Toro, such as “The Shape of Water,” “Cronos,” and “Hellboy,” he frequently appears to have the most compassion for the types of beings that other filmmakers typically depict as monstrous. He finds these creatures more intriguing than what others might consider terrifying.

According to Desplat, in ‘The Shape of Water,’ the creature initially seems terrifying for about 15 minutes, but later develops into a deeply emotional character.

The first moment I felt compelled to avenge the creature was when Marilyn Monroe emerged from the movies in ‘The Seven Year Itch’ alongside Tom Ewell. She said that the creature simply needed someone to like him, which resonated with me deeply. At a young age, I found myself captivated by both Marilyn and the creature in this scene. I realized then that all we have is people judging others unfairly, and this is unfortunately prevalent in our world.

The film titled “Frankenstein” features actors Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, and Mia Goth. Notably, composer Desplat has also worked on two films that competed at Cannes this year: Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” and Tarik Saleh’s “Eagles of the Republic.

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2025-05-18 23:46