Tag Archives: Jacob Elordi

2025 Films, Drama, Horror, Science Fiction

Frankenstein-2025

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Frankenstein-2025

Director Guillermo del Toro

Starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi

Scott’s Review #1,510

Reviewed January 15, 2026

Grade: A

Guillermo del Toro, known for his astounding production and art design in his films, hits a home run with a remake of Frankenstein (2025) based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, unmasking a beautifully crafted film.

He pulls out all the stops to achieve an exquisite gothic look that is hard not to be mesmerized by. It reminds me of the HBO series Penny Dreadful (2014-2016) in both its subject matter and its visual style.

I worried that the sets and designs would usurp the story, but especially in the final act, the film becomes very character-driven, especially the Creature, played by Jacob Elordi.

It is easy to garner sympathy for his character as the story progresses and he goes from bald and alien-like to disheveled and wild-looking.

The film is divided into three chapters: Prelude, Victor’s Tale, and The Creature’s Tale, so the pace is structured with shifting perspectives. This is a wise move.

Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

The inclusion of Victor’s brother, William (Felix Kammerer), Elizabeth (Mia Goth), and the Blind Man (David Bradley) adds interesting and potent supporting characters who help reveal the intentions of the more prominent characters.

Mesmerizing are the sequences in the dark, evening settings, and especially within the grandiose walls of the estate where William and Elizabeth are to be married.

The cool bluish hues amongst the glowing, burning candlelight provide a warm yet gruesome tone.

As Elizabeth, clad in her pale white wedding dress, is carried down the bold staircase by the creature, her abdomen is caked in scarlet red blood, amid falling flower petals, another example of the powerful visuals.

In contrast, the daytime sequences usually take place amid a blustery snowstorm or in frigid, barren wastelands, with a very white color palette. Del Toro doesn’t even need to use wind sounds to portray the frigid landscape perfectly.

Lastly, the costumes are award-worthy. From the seventeenth-century wedding outfits the attendees wear to the filthy rags the Creature dons, all are well defined by societal class.

The kindly Blind Man wears modest attire and lives in a barren forest area.

While both are superior in excellence and storytelling, 2025’s Frankenstein is vastly different from the 1931 version directed by James Whale and starring legendary horror actor Boris Karloff.

Made nearly one hundred (gasp!) years apart, they are dissimilar in ways, and the former is more faithful to Shelley’s novel.

Elordi deserves kudos for infusing the Creature with humanity and sympathy, a character that many perceive as nothing more than a monster.  His kindness and compassion mask the torture and pain he feels, wishing for death at nearly every turn.

The hulking actor is a perfect fit from a physical perspective, lumbering along the terrain and brooding with pain. His tentative relationship with Elizabeth is touching to see, and the future possibilities are endless, were it not for tragedy.

Isaac and Goth are also impressive. As the true film villain, Isaac’s Frankenstein is also tortured but turns to lies and deception to mask his pain. Goth, parlaying from indie horror into mainstream cinema, is one to watch as she chooses her next roles.

The lovely male relationship between the creature and the blind man is a true testament to kindness and what friendship is all about.

With his legendary visual touch, Guillermo Del Toro resurrects Frankenstein (2025) with a magnificent, nearly operatic offering that’s gloriously gothic and heartbreaking, with exceptional performances and visual mastery.

In this case, his story matches his visuals.

Oscar Nominations: 3 wins-Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor-Jacob Elordi, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design (won), Best Makeup & Hairstyling (won), Best Original Score, Best Production Design (won), Best Sound

2023 Films, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Thriller

Saltburn-2023

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Saltburn-2023

Director Emerald Fennell

Starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike

Scott’s Review #1,417

Reviewed January 19, 2024

Grade: A

Emerald Fennell, as a director (she also acts) is someone to keep a close eye on.  With only her second film, Saltburn (2023), she has quickly drawn comparisons to Darren Aronofsky and Yorgos Lanthimos by creating wickedly daring comedies rife with sharp dialogue and peculiar tastes.

Okay, I’m drawing those comparisons on my own.

The point is that she creates films that are not necessarily for mainstream audiences but will satisfy the peculiar cravings of those seeking left-of-center and hard-to-predict films.

She also wrote the screenplay.

Those wary of hard-to-digest scenes involving blood, sex, nudity, and other depravities, be forewarned.

Her first film was the revenge-themed and Academy Award-winning Promising Young Woman (2020) starring Carey Mulligan who makes a return appearance in Saltburn.

This time out Fennell offers us a beautifully daring story centering around privilege, jealousy, and desire. The film offers unlikable characters with enough twists and turns to keep the audience off guard and confused as to who to root for or against.

Will the characters we hate stay hated? If this sounds vague it’s because the film is filled with mystery.

Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) is an awkward young man struggling to find his place at Oxford University the recipient of a scholarship for those with financial hardships. His mother is a recovering drug addict and his father is dead.

Unpopular, he finds himself drawn to the charming and handsome Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who also happens to be filthy rich. Felix is the envy of almost everyone as they strive to be his friend or bedfellow.

After Oliver does Felix a favor, they become buddies, and Felix unexpectedly invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer vacation.

The lavish Oxford University is grandiose and scholarly with lots of preppy and wealthy intellectuals. As the snobs partake in parties and wild games Oliver is looked down on by everyone but Felix. The spoiled students are not meant for the audience to like.

I love how Fennell incorporates legions of insecurities suffered by the have-nots struggling to fit in which is a common theme of hers. The only kid willing to give Oliver the time of day is a creepy Jeffrey Dahmer type.

Anyone familiar with cliques on college campuses will be firmly in Oliver’s corner. He’s a good kid after all, who has been dealt a struggling hand at life, what with his parent’s issues and all.

The shit hits the fan when Oliver arrives at Saltburn which makes Oxford seem minimal in comparison. Manicured and sprawling lawns complete with a center maze are overwhelming to Oliver to say nothing of the group of oddballs that make up the family and staff.

Suddenly though, everything becomes weird, and the tone of the film shifts.

The final forty-five minutes are riveting with unexpected events transpiring after a wild party to celebrate Oliver’s birthday. Felix, his sister, and their parents are involved in shenanigans that make the viewers question everything they’ve seen thus far.

Mulligan doesn’t have much to do in Saltburn. Her role amounts to little more than a cameo which would be more irritating if the other characters weren’t so richly written.

Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant sizzle as aristocratic types oblivious to everyone else and their wealthy surroundings. It’s almost as if they assume everyone lives this well.

The sexual scenes of desire are breathtaking and startlingly explicit. In one scene, two characters make out with bloody mouths and in another, one character masturbates in a bathtub while another character spies on him and lustfully licks the faucet a few minutes later.

The best acting performance belongs to Keoghan who delivers a complex and spirited character who we’re not sure what will do next or sometimes why. He possesses an innocent yet creepy veneer which is tough to figure out.

His naked dance sequence is one of the wildest in cinema history.

Fennell hits another grand slam with the eerie yet fascinating Saltburn (2023), a delicious examination of the class system. The mixture of the groveling poor with the callous rich makes for a brilliant story.

I can’t wait to see what she does next.