Netflix Reveals How Mexican Visionary Guillermo del Toro Transformed Frankenstein

Guillermo del Toro remains one of the most imaginative and respected figures in cinema, a Mexican filmmaker whose stories have always spoken to those who understand loss, belonging, and the poetry of imperfection. For the Latino community, he represents a storyteller who reclaims emotion and myth through a distinctly cultural lens, merging tenderness with terror in ways that feel profoundly human.

His latest project brings that vision to life once again, as Netflix released a time-lapse video capturing actor Jacob Elordi’s transformation into Frankenstein’s creature, a sequence that celebrates the enduring craft of practical filmmaking in an era dominated by digital ease.

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A Monster Reborn Through Craft

The Netflix video condenses hours of prosthetic and makeup work into a few mesmerizing moments. It shows Elordi, known for Euphoria, losing his familiar features under layers of sculpted silicone and pigment until he becomes something entirely new. Del Toro’s film stands as a return to cinema’s tactile origins, emphasizing the physical artistry that makes audiences believe what they see.

The transformation was led by prosthetic designer Mike Hill, a longtime collaborator of del Toro. He explained to Elle that the team wanted to avoid the familiar look of grotesque corpses and instead craft a creature that felt alive and deeply tragic. According to Hill, del Toro pushed for the makeup to feel real and tangible, insisting that the use of digital effects would destroy the emotional connection the film sought to create. The resulting figure carries a strange dignity, embodying the director’s enduring belief that monsters are not defined by evil but by the wounds they carry.

The Transformation Behind Frankenstein

Jacob Elordi endured demanding hours in the makeup chair, where fifty-four silicone pieces were meticulously applied. Forty-two covered his body while the rest shaped his face and neck. The process stretched across weeks, repeated around fifty times, amounting to nearly five hundred hours of careful work. Hill described the goal as creating a visible construction that still preserved humanity. The creature needed to look as though it had been assembled from fragments, its seams exposed but its soul intact.

Del Toro also insisted on preserving Elordi’s natural eyes to maintain the emotional thread between actor and audience. The team used only a single contact lens to subtly alter his gaze while keeping the human expression at its core. The result is a creature that appears built yet alive, stitched together yet capable of tenderness.

A Story Decades in the Making

Guillermo del Toro has called this adaptation of Frankenstein one of his most personal undertakings, an idea that has followed him for decades. His interpretation of Mary Shelley’s novel transforms it into a story about creation, sorrow, and the longing to belong. In his vision, Victor Frankenstein’s experiment becomes an act of flawed love rather than scientific arrogance.

Hill described del Toro’s approach as one that sought to portray the creature as a being in search of humanity rather than a monster. That philosophy has long defined del Toro’s work, where compassion exists in the most unexpected places and beauty often emerges through imperfection.

Now streaming on Netflix, the film features Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein alongside a cast that delivers emotional depth and restraint. Every scene reflects the precision of craftsmanship that del Toro champions, an artistry that values patience, empathy, and care. In bringing this vision to life, he restores faith in the handmade nature of cinema and reminds audiences that monsters are never the true villains.

They are, instead, the mirrors of everything we refuse to see in ourselves.