Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” emphasizes themes of forgiveness over vengeance.

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein ending: Life, death, and the Creature’s last stand explained

Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" emphasizes themes of forgiveness over vengeance.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at **. His work has previously appeared on *The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer*, and many other publications.

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January 10, 2026 8:00 a.m. ET

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Jacob Elordi as the Creature in 'Frankenstein'. Credit:

Ken Woroner/Netflix

- Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Mary Shelley's *Frankenstein* stars Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth, and Jacob Elordi.

- The Netflix film is nominated for five Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture — Drama.

- The director's take deviates from Shelley's in its emphasis on forgiveness.

Guillermo del Toro's *Frankenstein* is more than just a movie — it's a dream come true for the filmmaker.

The Oscar-winning writer and director has been noodling on his own take on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel for decades. Speaking with ** ahead of the film's release, he referenced a sketch of the story's central Creature that he drew back in 1987. It's been with him for a long, long time.

And his vision is finally resonating. *Frankenstein* earned five Golden Globe nominations, including a nod for Best Motion Picture — Drama, and its Oscar prospects are looking brighter than Elizabeth's radiant wardrobe.

Would the project be so successful had he made it earlier in his career? During a chat at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, del Toro told EW how he's happy to have directed it at this stage of his life, given that his approach evolved with his own understanding of forgiveness.

So, how does forgiveness factor into the story's ending? And what becomes of del Toro's Creature? Below, we unpack the ending of *Frankenstein*.

Why does Victor create the Creature?

Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in 'Frankenstein'.

As a boy, Victor Frankenstein (Christian Convery) resents his emotionally and physically abusive father, Leopold (Charles Dance), a surgeon he blames for not being able to save his mother (Mia Goth), who dies during childbirth. A grieving Victor envisions a "dark angel" that promises him the ability to have "command over the forces of life and death."

As an adult, Victor (Oscar Isaac) dedicates his life to conquering death, much to the dismay of his overseers at his university, who expel him for his attempts to reanimate corpses.

His experiments are saved by Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz), a wealthy benefactor who funds Victor's work. This involves the creation of an elaborate lab in an abandoned tower, as well as tools and machinery that can harness lightning, a key to Victor's reanimation process.

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Victor assembles his Creature (Jacob Elordi) from the body parts of dead soldiers and executed criminals, but the monster fails to rise after electrocution — at first. Hours later, Victor discovers the Creature *is* alive.

But he grows frustrated by the Creature's lack of intellectual growth. After shackling the Creature in the bowels of the tower, he gives up hope in his grand experiment. It doesn't help that Victor's sister-in-law Elizabeth (also Goth), for whom he pines, develops a caring rapport with the Creature.

Why does Victor burn down the tower?

Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in 'Frankenstein'.

Victor, overwhelmed with resentment over what he deems to be a failed experiment, decides to burn down the tower with the Creature inside. Furious that the Creature has learned to say only one word — "Victor" — he says he'll spare him if he can speak just one more. Though the Creature utters "Elizabeth" in response, Victor burns it down anyway.

Hearing the Creature screaming his name, Victor turns back. It's too late, however. The fire is out of control, and an explosion results in one of Victor's legs being shattered, requiring a prosthetic.

Unbeknownst to him, the Creature manages to escape by using his supernatural strength to tear off his chains and scuttle through a drainage pipe to freedom.

What does the Creature want from Victor?

Jacob Elordi as the Creature in 'Frankenstein'.

Ken Woroner/Netflix

After escaping into the wilderness, the Creature finds a home in the shadows of a nearby farm. With the help of a blind elder (David Bradley), he learns to speak and read. Using those newfound skills, the Creature returns to the ruins of the tower and reads letters that reveal the truth of its creation.

Upon returning to the farm, the Creature discovers the old man mortally wounded by wolves. Its then shot by the man's family, who assume the Creature killed him. But the Creature doesn't die, and the realization that it seemingly *can't* die is a horrible one.

"I cannot die, and I cannot live alone," it intones.**

Not wanting to stare down eternity alone, the Creature tracks down Victor and demands he create a companion. “We can be monsters together."

But Victor refuses, aghast at the idea of the monster reproducing.

What happens to Elizabeth?

Mia Goth as Elizabeth and Jacob Elordi as The Creature in 'Frankenstein'.

Ken Woroner/Netflix

Elizabeth stumbles upon Victor and the Creature in Victor's room, and immediately finds herself drawn to the monster once again. Victor pulls a gun on the monster, but his bullet hits Elizabeth, who stepped in to protect it.

The Creature carries Elizabeth's bleeding body to a cave. Before dying, she says, "I sought and longed for something I could not quite name. But in you, I found it."

What happens to Victor?

Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in 'Frankenstein'.

Ken Woroner/Netflix

Victor pursues the Creature to the frigid Arctic, arming himself with guns and sticks of dynamite. The Creature, who longs for death, attempts to blow itself up with that dynamite, but survives the blast.

A wounded, hypothermic Victor finds refuge on a ship of Danish sailors that's been locked in ice, which is where the film begins. In that opening sequence, we see the Creature chasing Victor onto the ship, killing several sailors on the way. The Creature is slowed, however, when gunfire shatters the ice around its feet, plunging it into the cold sea.

After telling his story to the ship's captain (Lars Mikkelsen), Victor is confronted by the Creature, now emerged from the sea. The Creature tells its story, and hearing its perspective allows a dying Victor to acknowledge his mistakes. It's here that del Toro's narrative most significantly deviates Shelley's, emphasizing forgiveness rather than vengeance.

Jacob Elordi as the Creature in 'Frankenstein'.

Ken Woroner/Netflix

"Forgive me, my son," Victor pleads. "And if you have it in your heart, forgive yourself into existence. If death is not to be, then consider this, my son, wherever you are alive, what recourse do you have but to live?"

The Creature gives Victor that forgiveness. "Rest now, father," it says. "Perhaps now we can both be human."

Speaking with EW, del Toro spoke about this approach. For him, the story is about "forgiving someone and forgiving yourself into *being.*" He added, "What you realize is a grudge takes two prisoners and forgiveness liberates two people."

Victor dies and the ship's captain tells his crew to allow the Creature to leave unharmed. The Creature repays the favor by using his strength to free the ship from its icy prison.**

The director also discussed this narrative choice with EW. "The moment they make each other human — father and son — he comes out and he decides in a beautiful moment to say, 'The people that attacked me, I'm gonna free them,'" del Toro explained. "And turns and pushes [the ship]... It's a liberation. And I think that's the difference with the book. This ends in a note of possible hope."

How does Frankenstein end?

Jacob Elordi walks into the horizon as the Creature in 'Frankenstein'.

*Frankenstein* ends with the Creature walking alone towards a rising sun, pulling back its hood and basking in the light.

The scene calls back to the moment when Victor and the Creature first met. The Creature initially shied away from the sun pouring through the windows, but Victor told him not to. "The sun is life," he said.

The Creature clearly took that to heart. The sun is life, and it's ready to live.**

Where can I watch Frankenstein?

Frankenstein is available to stream on Netflix.

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