The original fantastical novel by Mary Shelley inspires a new interpretation in film, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro.

Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, 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.

Netflix on Saturday unveiled the first teaser trailer for Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro‘s long-in-the works adaptation of the 1818 literary classic from Mary Shelley, which is slated for release this November.

In the upcoming film, Oscar Isaac stars as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature (Jacob Elordi) to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

Del Toro has been working on his Frankenstein passion project for over a decade. At Tudum, the Netflix fandom event streamed live from the Kia Stadium in Los Angeles, he called it “the culmination of a journey that has occupied most of my life,” adding, “Monsters have become my personal belief system. There are strands of Frankenstein through my films.”

At the 2018 BAFTA Awards, while accepting the BAFTA Award for Best Director for The Shape of Water, he offered the following insights on Shelley’s legacy:

“The most important figure from English legacy is, incredibly, for me, a teenager by the name of Mary Shelley, and she has remained a figure as important in my life as if she were family,” he said. “And so many times when I want to give up, when I think about giving up, when people tell me that dreaming of the movies and the stories I dream are impossible, I think of her.”

Guillermo del Toro won his third Oscar for Pinocchio, another literary adaptation for Netflix. His version of Frankenstein also stars Mia Goth (X), Felix Kammerer (All Quiet on the Western Front), Lars Mikkelsen (The Witcher), David Bradley (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds).

Del Toro directed from his own script and produced alongside longtime collaborator J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber.

Netflix debuted the teaser for Frankenstein during Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event, a preview of its upcoming slate streamed live from the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.