Guillermo del Toro is always tinkering with the craft of filmmaking, and his approach to Frankenstein is no exception. The director revealed a surprising technique he used to elevate the emotional connection between Jacob Elordi’s Creature and Mia Goth’s Elizabeth.
You may or may not have noticed that certain interactions between the Creature and Elizabeth seem to move with a slightly dreamlike rhythm. Del Toro confirmed that he intentionally shot those scenes differently, and he explained the choice directly to a viewer who pointed out the unusual motion.
“I shot all their scenes together at 36 frames per second so I could slow down certain moments/Gestures (wedding dress moth flutter float) or speed them (her face trembling in glove scene) and you can feel that effect leaning on every emotional beat…” del Toro wrote on X.
Since the standard for movies is 24 frames per second, the shift to 36 frames per second gives the interactions a more delicate pace. It lets small gestures feel richer and more intimate without calling attention to the technique itself.
The result is a subtle visual language that enhances the connection between the Creature and the one person who shows him genuine kindness.
Elizabeth’s dynamic with the Creature is one of the film’s more interesting threads. She’s engaged to Victor Frankenstein’s brother William and Victor carries his own complicated attachment to her, but despite the chaos surrounding the family, Elizabeth becomes the Creature’s only source of warmth.
Her gentleness during the Creature’s earliest days, when Victor has him chained in the basement beneath the lab, adds emotional layers to their story arc.
Del Toro wanted to use the use of frame rate to tweak these scenes to feel slightly outside the harsher reality of the rest of the story. It highlights new details and deepens the contrast between Elizabeth’s compassion and Victor’s growing dread.
The film adapts Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel with Oscar Isaac leading the cast as Victor Frankenstein. The ensemble also includes Christoph Waltz, David Bradley, Charles Dance, Ralph Ineson, and Lars Mikkelsen, with Elordi and Goth giving two of the movie’s most affecting performances.
Frankenstein is streaming now on Netflix, and knowing the creative decisions behind these scenes makes a rewatch even more rewarding.
