Frankenstein (2025) Movie Script

[soft suspenseful music fading in]
[turbulent wind blowing]
[metallic tools scraping]
[officer in Danish] Captain!
Captain!
Can we talk?
[watch ticking]
[captain, softly] Hmm.
We must break through the ice.
[officer] The men are hungry
and exhausted.
We cannot keep up this pace
without consequence.
[sighs]
[captain] Listen up, men!
The more we delay the labor,
the firmer the grasp
of the ice will become.
The work continues.
Rotate each group.
[officer] Sir, with respect
The men need assurances.
Assurances?
Yes, that we will head back
to St. Petersburg once we free the ship.
They don't think we'll be seaworthy
for long and they want to know--
[shouts] Listen up!
It is neither your place,
nor the officer here, to think anything
We signed up for a mission
and we will see it to completion.
We will reach the North Pole.
Is it understood?
[men yell in agreement]
[men shouting indistinctly]
[sighs]
[sighs]
-[distant explosion]
-[gasps]
[unsettling music plays]
[officer] An explosion, Captain.
About two miles away.
Get the men.
[dogs barking in distance]
[panting]
[dogs barking]
The sled dogs are unharmed.
Then where does all this blood come from?
-[man] Over here, Captain!
-[whistle blowing]
A wounded man, he's lost a lot of blood.
[breathing laboriously]
Wound to the shoulder, his leg is broken.
Bear attack?
I don't think so, Captain.
Larsen, help me with his boot.
A prosthetic leg.
[guttural, beastly roar]
-[tense music playing]
-[men clamoring]
Put him on the board.
Hurry! To the ship! Now!
[beastly roar]
[man shouts]
Larsen, that thing is coming.
Ready the rifles!
On my command.
[beastly roar]
Aim!
Fire!
[guttural grunting]
[growling]
[foreboding music plays]
[growls]
Next group!
[repeats command]
Fire!
[grunting]
[groans]
[beastly growling]
All to the ship!!
[captain and officer repeating command]
[man 1 grunts, screams]
[rifles firing]
-[growls]
-[man 2 screams]
[gags]
[men clamoring]
[man 3 screaming]
[captain] Where is that man
we brought onboard?
Where?
What is that thing? What does it want?
[growls and pants]
[beastly roaring]
[guttural male voice in English]
Bring him to me!
[grunts]
[man 4 screaming]
-[bones snap]
-[yelps]
[men grunting]
[in Danish] The blunderbuss.
Larsen, get the blunderbuss!
[panting]
[blunderbuss clicks]
[guttural grunting]
[guttural male voice] Victor.
Victor!
[gunshot]
[blunderbuss clicks]
[grunts]
[blunderbuss clicks]
[groans]
[ice cracks]
I killed it.
I killed it.
[bones crackling]
[grunts]
[captain] It's still alive!
Ladder!
Pull up the ladder!
-[captain and officer shouting]
-[whistle blowing]
-[grunting]
-[hull thudding]
[guttural panting]
[guttural male voice in English]
Bring him to me!
-[yells]
-[hull creaking]
[men groaning]
-[straining]
-[ice cracking]
[man screaming]
[shouting in Danish]
[in Danish] How many shots are left?
One, but it can't kill it.
I know.
I'm not aiming for him.
[straining]
[blunderbuss clicks]
[grunts]
[ice cracking]
[breathes heavily]
[gasps]
[grunting]
[gasps, roars]
[ship creaking]
[snow hisses]
[man in English] Laudanum,
to ease the pain. Drink it. Drink it.
[Victor gags]
[weakly] Where am I?
You are on
the Royal Danish ship, Horisont.
I'm Captain Anderson. This is Dr. Udsen.
How many of your men did it kill?
[breathing shakily]
Six.
It will come back and kill many more.
All of you, if necessary,
unless you deliver me to it.
No, no. It's gone.
It sank in the freezing waters. It's dead.
No, it is not!
It cannot die.
I have tried to destroy it.
Whether you believe me or not,
it will come back for me.
And when it does,
you must promise
that you will put me out on the ice
and let it take me.
Please.
[Anderson] What manner
of creature is that?
What manner of devil made him?
I did.
I did.
I made him.
I had determined that the memory
of my evils should die with me.
It's ready.
Some of what I will tell you is fact.
[groans]
Some is not, but it is all true.
My name is Victor.
Victor Frankenstein.
It was my father who gave me that name.
Do you know what it means?
I believe I do, yes. Conqueror.
One that wins it all.
[Victor] Yes. It all started with him.
My father.
[breathing heavily]
And my mother.
[somber classical music playing]
[woman] Victor!
Victor!
Victor!
[in French] Come down,
your father is arriving.
[young Victor] Maman? Maman?
I'm here, Mother.
I'm here.
[Victor in English] My father was a baron
and a preeminent surgeon.
He had married my mother
largely out of convenience,
as her dowry was considerable
and her lineage noble.
It furnished my father with the means
to preserve his rank and family estate.
He was absent from our lives,
but when he came home,
the entire household bent to his will.
Claire, dear.
[Victor] The rest of the time
Victor.
Father.
[Victor] The rest of the time,
Mother was mine.
[cutlery clinking]
No, bring that here.
The salts in the meat
will enrich your blood,
as well as the baby's.
You eat for two, remember?
Go on.
It's nutritious.
[young Victor] Guardian angel.
Sweet companion.
Stand by my side and do not leave me.
Under your mantle,
-shelter me, and
-[muffled arguing]
[Victor] I would hear them through
the wall, arguing incessantly,
yelling at each other
about wealth, estate and me.
Their voices filled me with fear.
[Claire sniffling]
Maman?
Maman?
[Claire sobbing]
-[heartbeat thumping]
-[Claire whispers indistinctly]
[Victor] The man despised us both.
Our raven black hair, our deep, dark eyes.
Even our quiet,
at times nervous disposition
seemed to exasperate him to no end.
List as accurately as you can
the ancient classification
of the humors in the human body.
Blood, black bile, yellow bile,
and phlegm.
[father] Average male heart. Weight?
Nine to eleven ounces, Father.
Average female heart. Weight?
Eight to ten ounces.
Why do you suppose that is?
Difference in mass in female heart?
Depth of emotion?
Tendency to the melancholic?
Mass. Volume of blood, Father.
Muscular irrigation.
[father] Quite.
There is no spiritual content in tissue,
and no emotion in a muscle.
Now, describe the main function
of the tricuspid valve, please.
I cannot recall, Father,
but I'm sure I will remember.
Yeah, I'm sure you will.
Ivory does not bleed, Victor.
Flesh does.
By the time you remember a fact,
your patient could be dead.
You understand?
The main function of the tricuspid valve
is to prevent the reflux of blood
into the vena cava.
No, not your hands. Not anymore.
They are now the instruments
of your craft and will,
and we must care for them.
Your face, however, is vanity.
[stifling a cry]
You bear my name, Victor,
and with it my reputation.
I pray you remember that.
[Claire chatting in French, laughing]
[young Victor in English] I feel you have
something very good, parce que
[in French] Three
Two
One
-[chuckling]
-That's impossible.
-[in English] I'll shuffle.
-[gasps]
[groans]
-Mother?
-[moans]
-Maman?
-[gasps in pain]
Father!
Father. [in French] It's Mother.
[Claire sobbing]
Maman. [inquires in French]
[father in English] I need hot water
and clean linen. A lot of it.
-Now.
-[man] Sir.
-[Claire] No, Victor!
-Mother?
[speaking French]
-Maman!
-[father] Victor!
[in English] Father! Father!
-[Claire] Victor!
-Save her, please!
[door slams]
-[panting]
-[solemn classical music playing]
[Claire screaming]
[sobs softly]
[solemn classical music continues]
[infant crying]
[infant continues crying]
[Victor] My mother, whom I had come
to consider a part of my very self,
she who I thought would never leave,
she who was life was now death.
Her eyes extinguished,
her smile feeding the cold earth.
[young Victor sniffling]
Leave!
All of you, leave!
[sobbing softly]
[Victor] A part of the universe
had been hollowed out
and the firmament
was now permanently dark.
[father] Now, cover your eyes.
Don't look until I tell you to.
Now.
[Victor] William grew
full of sunshine and smiles.
He was of a calmer, gentler disposition,
clearly favored by my father.
-[father laughs]
-Thank you, Father.
[father] Oh, it's a pleasure, my boy.
[Victor] He was the breeze,
I was the storm cloud.
He was all laughter, I was all frowns.
[father] Pick up the reins.
[young William] Look at me, Father.
Look at me.
[laughs]
[Victor] There was something more.
Or rather, something was missing.
My mother had died
at the hands of the most
distinguished doctor of his day:
My father.
An idea took shape in my mind.
[father] Define the circulatory system,
if you will
[Victor] Inevitable, unavoidable
[father] as enunciated in De Motu Cordis.
[Victor] until it became truth.
Father?
You let her die, did you not?
I did everything in my power to save her.
You must know that.
So you failed.
-No one can conquer death.
-Mm-hmm.
I will. I will conquer it.
Everything you know, I will know.
And more.
I think we've done quite enough for today.
[Victor] I was born anew that night.
I had a vision.
I saw, for the first time
the Dark Angel.
[captivating choral music playing]
[gasps]
[breathing shakily]
And it made me a promise.
I would have command
over the forces of life and death.
I would become every ounce
the surgeon my father was.
I would surpass him
in ambition and in reach.
The vision was so clear.
Clearer than anything I'd ever seen
in my waking hours or dreams.
But how?
[choral music intensifies]
[wheezing]
[panting]
[wind whistling]
My downfall was swift.
Two revolts and a fire
on my mother's plantations
dwindled the family fortune.
We kept the estate,
but lost everything else.
[bell clangs]
[mourners chant in Latin]
[bell clangs]
[Victor] William went to one side
of the family in Vienna
and I to London, then Edinburgh.
And there, for decades, I tried to
expand the narrow limits of academia.
Life.
This is life, gentlemen.
We are born.
Hmm?
And no sooner do we rise, we fall.
Death.
And in the space between
that rise and fall,
our humble little purview.
[scattered laughter]
Now, birth is not in our hands.
Is it?
Conception, that spark,
the animation of thought and soul.
That is in God's hands.
-God.
-[scattered laughter]
But death.
Ah, now there lies the challenge.
That should be our concern.
It should be.
Who are we to do so?
We are not gods, are we?
But if we are to behave
as immodestly as gods,
we must, at the very least,
deliver miracles.
Wouldn't you say?
-Ignite a divine spark
-[battery crackles]
in these young students' minds.
Teach them defiance rather than obedience.
Show that man may pursue nature
to her hiding places and stop death.
Not slow it down, but stop it entirely!
[men applauding and murmuring]
Silence. Silence!
[chatter and applause stop]
How exactly do you propose
to teach what is impossible?
[men exclaiming]
[Victor] Composite subject, the body.
That of a shopkeeper,
delivered mere moments after expiration.
The brain laid bare but functional,
the spinal branches
and vagal nerves intact.
You may observe the hair-thin scars.
No coarse stitching needed
by my own technique.
The arm, you see,
comes from another specimen,
that of a carpenter.
The muscles, ligaments,
nerves, all connected now.
[batteries thrumming]
[gasping hoarsely]
[men exclaiming]
Now, the spasmodic movement of the body
caused from the electric current,
this is not new.
It's not new. However,
the flow of energy through the body
follows a different notion entirely.
-An Eastern notion called qi.
-[continues gasping]
Now, it considers the vital flow of energy
both within and without.
I'm utilizing needles in six--
-[gavel rapping]
-Quiet!
Sit down!
This is a hearing, Doctor,
not a carnival act.
You're not helping your cause, Victor.
This galvanic trickery will simply not do.
Trickery.
Trickery?
Are you sure?
[men exclaiming]
-That is not trickery. That is a decision.
-[scattered applause]
Motor coordination between the eye
of one dead man and the arm of another,
infused with a new will
and the rudiments of understanding.
Understanding in a brain
that already died?
Release now.
-[knocks]
-Please.
-"Please" always helps.
-[applause and laughter]
Turn that off at once.
At once, you charlatan.
This is the future. This is possible.
Why not study it? Why not quantify it?
This is unholy.
An abomination.
An obscenity!
[men booing]
God gives life, and God takes it, Victor.
Perhaps God is inept!
[men cheering]
And it is we that must amend his mistakes!
Do not let these old fools
extinguish your voice!
The answers only come
when coaxed by disobedience,
free of fear and cowardly dogma!
-[gasping deeply]
-[instrument clatters]
[wheezing]
[stops breathing]
Professor Krempe.
-[men cheering]
-[uplifting classical music playing]
[noisy chatter]
[pigs squealing]
Baron Frankenstein,
my name is Heinrich Harlander,
and I carry with me
a letter of introduction
from your brother, William.
From my brother?
I asked for the privilege
of your acquaintance.
It won't take but a minute of your time.
-Please.
-Very well.
[flies buzzing]
[Victor] So William is coming
to see me, is that it?
Yeah, in a matter of days.
He wants to introduce you to his fiance.
My niece, as it happens.
Elizabeth Harlander,
a very nice young lady,
fresh from convent life.
The photographs are mine.
William has become
quite successful in the world of finance.
He's making a name for himself.
Ha! A name? For himself?
Well, I'm afraid we both share that name,
whether we like it or not.
I read your article in The Lancet.
You really believe you can do it?
Assemble a man?
A full new body? And give it life?
You saw it today, didn't you?
What I saw was a crucifixion, really.
You were done for
before you uttered a word.
I still showed them.
What?
The truth.
They will forget by suppertime.
Yes, yes, yes.
But what did you think? Hmm?
I thought it was brilliant.
It was. I know.
But you are like a child, so excited,
clutching your new pet so tightly
that you're strangling it.
That is why I worry about you.
Can you contain your fire, Prometheus?
Or are you going to
burn your hands before delivering it?
Quite.
Please do not think me rude,
but my day has proven long enough,
and I believe myself totally unfit
for the company of strangers.
So if there's nothing more--
Oh, but there is. Much more.
-[sighs]
-I've taken quarters in Edinburgh.
Three days from now,
we are to meet with William and Elizabeth.
And that evening,
I will change your destiny.
I will show you something extraordinary.
[church bell tolling]
[people chattering]
[fingers snapping]
The peach. The peach.
Turn the peach. Turn it.
You bit it again.
You're eating the peaches.
This is a memento mori.
The peach, symbol of life and youth,
and you bite into it?
-I was hungry, Kiki.
-Don't call me Kiki.
[servant] Baron Victor Frankenstein, sir.
[Harlander] You can leave.
Forgive me.
Welcome.
[Victor] Herr Harlander.
A young art, photography.
[model] Goodbye, Kiki.
Already a passion of mine.
Did you bring the papers?
Oh, thank you.
-[chuckles] You're extraordinary.
-[Victor] Thank you.
[Harlander] Hmm.
You're using the nervous system
to deliver the surge of energy.
Are you not?
Correct.
And thus the sustainability
of the life force you command
is very brief, wanes, evaporates.
How so?
At the lecture,
you ended your demonstration out of pride.
But really,
because the galvanic life force
was already fading, was it not?
Are you yourself a surgeon, sir?
Yeah, once upon a time. An army surgeon.
Not a particularly skilled one, either.
But it allowed me
to secure the rudiments of my fortune.
I own a few ammunition factories.
-An arms merchant.
-A realist.
Are you familiar with the Evelyn Tables?
Of course. Acquired by Sir John Evelyn,
there are four planks,
meticulous dissection,
some of the oldest in Europe,
presenting the nerves,
veins and arteries of cadavers. What?
Yes. But there's a fifth one.
The most compelling one.
Exquisite, is it not?
-Flesh rendered onto wood.
-[knocks on wood]
The cadaver lies on the plank,
is peeled away layer by layer,
and the remaining tissue is lacquered
with resin onto the wood.
-It showcases the lymphatic system.
-Yes.
Muslim medics called it
the secret circulatory system.
It moves a mere three liters of fluid,
but it's a vast network.
-Oh, it's remarkable.
-Yes.
Now for us, for you,
the important variation is here.
The ninth configuration. A very delicate,
almost ethereal structure
surrounding the heart.
It can distribute, but also store energy.
Yes, if you can access that
without destroying
-the surrounding tissue--
-No. Not through the front.
The back, spinal column,
thoracic curvature.
Of course.
Flow of energy, scarring and regeneration
beyond anyone's imagination.
Life eternal.
I will endow your pursuit
with unlimited resources.
And in exchange?
No need to become indelicate.
We're searchers for truth
and transcendence, kindred spirits.
I may in time
ask you for a favor in return,
but it's mostly the privilege to record
your process for posterity.
I work alone.
I'm very quiet.
[servant] William Frankenstein
and your niece, Herr Harlander.
I shall consider it.
I'll consider it.
[Harlander] Baron.
Don't pretend to be reasonable now.
It would be such a shame.
[huffs softly]
[chuckles] Victor.
William!
-Victor.
-Look at you.
[chuckles] My, you've grown.
Through no merit of my own.
May I introduce the woman I'm to marry.
Lady Elizabeth Harlander.
[ethereal classical music playing]
[huffs softly]
Absolutely delighted.
Can't say I was shocked
when you were expelled,
but the manner and virulence
of your expulsion,
uncalled for, I'm sure.
No, it was called for. I earned it.
I made it a point to earn it,
wouldn't you say, Herr Harlander?
It was quite an exit, I assure you.
[William] Why provoke them?
Why not just carry on without calling
attention to yourself in such a manner?
How safe, even by your standards, William.
You almost sound like Father.
He was a most tactful man, our father.
He was precise, discreet, measured.
I, on the other hand, fail to see
why modesty is considered a virtue at all.
Victor's always been
one to harvest attention.
Even as children,
I mitigated his voice by staying silent.
Perhaps too much and far too many times,
wouldn't you say, Victor?
If life can be regenerated,
not as a mere simulation,
but as a divine act by physical,
chemical means,
-why whisper it?
-[Elizabeth chuckles]
You laugh?
-You're amused?
-I must be, yes.
Are my ideas not clear?
You certainly expressed them
loudly enough.
[Victor] Are they not worthwhile?
Ideas are not worthwhile by themselves,
I don't believe.
Enlighten me, please.
Take the war, for example.
William, cigar and brandy in my study?
Surely you've heard my niece
expound on the matter before.
You'll excuse us.
[Victor] Pray, carry on. Ideas.
Well honor, country, valor.
These surely are worthwhile,
elevated ideas by themselves,
wouldn't you agree?
-Mm-hmm.
-And nevertheless, men are dying for them.
In a decidedly un-elevated way,
face down in the mud, choking on blood,
screaming in pain.
Men that were fathers,
brothers or sons to someone out there.
Men that were fed, cleaned and nursed
and schooled into this world
by their mothers,
only to fall on a battlefield far away,
far from those that provoke
these tragedies.
Those men remain at home,
untouched by blood or bayonet,
their skin unpierced,
their blankets warm and clean.
That is what happens
when ideas are pursued by fools.
And you think me a fool?
Hmm?
Run to your brandy and cigars.
The boys are waiting.
[chuckles dryly]
[Victor] How often a man believes
he's met an angel or a devil,
only to find it is all an illusion.
The game of chess we play [coughs]
we play only against ourselves.
[coughing]
[in Danish] Help him.
Help him!
[in English] Here you go. Drink some.
[commotion outside]
[Larsen shouting in Danish]
[running footsteps]
[door slams open]
-[Larsen] You better come with me.
-[sighs in relief]
[Anderson] Nothing.
[Larsen] Sir, the watchman saw him.
Circling the ship. In the mist.
We all saw him drown.
Sir.
The men are terrified.
They think that man should be
surrendered to the ice
and be done with this.
He is under my protection
and the protection of the Crown!
-[Larsen shouts]
-[whistle blows]
[man shouting in distance]
[Victor in English] A few weeks later,
I rode with William and Harlander
to a lake near Vaduz across the channel.
The tower was built as a water
filtration plant to irrigate the fields.
Public works, so construction
was abandoned at the start of the war.
Not this war, the one before.
Or the one before that,
I cannot quite remember.
[horse neighs]
[Victor] The moment I laid eyes on it
The tower.
I could feel destiny calling.
[enthralling classical music playing]
The structure's basically intact.
And there's a chute
going from top, right to the bottom.
I can arrange for your belongings.
We'll bring them from Edinburgh.
[door creaking]
Anything you need or want
shall be granted.
-[Victor] Anything?
-[Harlander] Anything.
[wings fluttering]
[music intensifies]
[Harlander] I have secured William's
service for the duration of the project.
[Victor] I'll need a holding cell.
-And an ice chamber close to the lab.
-[Harlander] William.
There are two pump reservoirs
at the base of the tower.
We'll repurpose those.
[Victor] We shall need to recondition
the steam engines.
We'll need enough fuel
to make sure they run.
There and there,
four high-capacity voltaic batteries,
positive and negative polarity,
and a lightning rod system of pure silver
telescoping down into the lab.
Yes. My contractors can manufacture
any and all equipment you may require.
I take it then
that we have an understanding?
[lighthearted classical music playing]
A bargain has been struck.
[crowd cheering]
[celebratory music playing]
[man] Bastard!
[Victor] No. No. Not this one.
Aah. Open your mouth.
[groans]
You, you're lucky to be hanged.
You would have died within the year.
Herr Harlander promised me
access to optimal specimens.
Yeah, that he may have, your lordship,
but as you well know,
crime doesn't pay, and it's a poor
showing of it we have here.
-They're wretches every one of them.
-[groans]
I'm sorry about that.
[Victor] That's a strong back.
This one will do.
[crowd cheering]
[celebratory music continues]
[music fades]
[soft ethereal music playing]
Come back later.
[Victor] Confession?
I was intrigued.
What would such a delicate,
pious creature have to confess to?
As luck would have it,
an opportunity presented itself,
and I
I was about to find out.
[Elizabeth] Bless me, Father,
for I have sinned.
[imitating old priest]
How long has it been
since your last confession, my daughter?
Barely a week, Father.
I was in a convent.
A week?
Tsk-tsk. Have you
so hastily committed sin?
I have.
Sin of intent, not deed.
-A man, is it?
-Yes.
My fianc's brother.
Lust?
Hatred.
[in normal voice] Hatred [clears throat]
-[imitates old priest] Hatred?
-The man is appalling, grotesque.
[scoffs] Harsh words.
Rather uncharitable, wouldn't you say?
Respectfully, Father,
you do not know this man.
He tries to control and manipulate
everything and everyone around him.
Like every tyrant,
he delights in playing the victim.
His only advantage, I would say,
is he's far cruder
than he believes himself to be.
Cruder?
Uh, pray explain yourself, my child.
For one, he's easy to spot.
You can see him
even on a busy street on market day.
[whimsical classical music playing]
[Victor] Tell me,
how soon did you spot me?
[Elizabeth] I saw you well before
you saw me, I can say that much.
[Victor] Have you had supper?
I'm not that hungry, Baron.
Thank you.
[Victor] Well, I for one am famished.
-Thank you, my good man.
-Thank you, sir.
What books did you buy, hmm? May I?
Guess.
-Guess?
-Mm-hmm. I'd rather that you did.
Very well.
A romance [sniffs]
drenched in Mediterranean sun
and silk and the skirmishes of love.
-Insulting, but unsurprising.
-[chuckles]
Really?
-Insects?
-Mm.
My interest in science
leans towards the smallest things.
Moving with nature,
perhaps the rhythms of God.
I've always searched for something
more pure, marvelous.
Is that what you were seeking
in the convent?
In a way.
Was it worth it?
-Is anything?
-[music ends]
[applause]
[classical waltz music playing]
Permit me, sister.
[softly] This hardly seems appropriate.
Is anything?
Very well.
[footsteps thumping rhythmically]
[Victor laughs]
-Laughter!
-[laughing]
[Victor] And for the very first time,
I became more interested in life
and somewhat less interested in death.
[classical waltz music continues]
[silversmith] The main rod
has a fast bolting system.
Did you use an alloy?
Copper and zinc.
This is This simply will not do.
Start over.
Pure silver is a perfect conductor.
William, you must stay behind. Please.
I trust you above anyone else.
Only for a few more days.
You're not going to catch her. [chuckles]
[Elizabeth laughs]
Beautiful. Beautiful.
-Should we trap her or let her go?
-Mm
-Trap her.
-[both chuckle]
[Victor] Now we have something in common.
A prisoner.
[Victor] As promised, William took dutiful
charge of the laboratory build and needs.
[William] Can you fix that
over there, please?
Go, help.
[Victor] He followed
my instructions to the letter.
The battery.
-[William] It's all pure silver now.
-[metal clangs]
Conduction points
corresponding to the lymphatic system,
which was quite complex.
-But I managed. [chuckles]
-Mm-hmm.
[classical waltz music continues]
[battery humming]
[battery buzzes]
-[music ends]
-[applause]
[sighs]
[elegant classical music playing]
[knock on door]
Herr Harlander, thank you.
The party's delightful.
I hope we're not distracting you
from your research
to tend to me and Elizabeth.
Not at all.
She's young.
She can count on us to guard her.
I shall leave you your privacy.
No need for subterfuge between us.
-[urinating]
-[faint chiming]
French porcelain,
chimes to a man's stream.
I am very near a solution,
an access point to the lymphatic system.
Ah, yeah, that.
It's been so long.
[continues urinating]
The war is waning.
[finishes urinating]
And my funding will end with it.
You said your funds were unlimited.
My patience is not.
I have it on good authority that a battle
is to take place within a week.
The tide of war
will deliver its bounty to our shore.
A battlefield? The bodies will be mangled.
One week.
-One week?
-After that, history will pass us by.
Flush that for me, will you, Baron?
[Victor] A week to determine
how to deliver the current.
-Impossible.
-[knock on door]
What would I do?
I was close. I could feel it.
-[knocking continues]
-And then
life got in the way.
Oh.
I believe she missed you.
[Victor] I must warn you,
Elizabeth,
-I've been working on a dissection.
-It's beautiful.
[Victor] Does it shock you?
[Elizabeth] Reminds me
of martyrdom paintings.
-Pain is gone.
-[soft classical music playing]
You can see God's design
in the symmetry and the shapes.
Elizabeth.
I must confess something to you.
I have a belief in the marvelous
and so do you.
There is a bond between us.
Can you feel it?
An almost physical one.
I truly believe it to be something else.
[Victor huffs softly]
Believing something does not make it true.
Then why are you here?
[Elizabeth sighs]
[Elizabeth sighs]
Beautiful creature, is she not?
Remote. Entirely bewitching, but so odd.
[tender classical music playing]
Three hearts.
Multiple eyes. White blood.
And a fascinating lack of choice.
I don't understand.
Choice is the seat of the soul.
The one gift God granted us.
Elizabeth
[sniffles] I have chosen.
Good night.
[somber classical music plays]
Elizabeth!
Elizabeth!
I thought I had failed.
I thought it was entirely over. I thought
And I thought
And I
The symmetry.
[breathing heavily]
God's symmetry. Yes, yes.
-[liquid bubbling]
-[machine whirring]
[electricity thrumming]
-[batteries thrumming]
-[bones crackle]
[Victor whispers] Yes.
-[subject screams]
-[Victor gasping]
[objects clattering]
[machine powers off]
[gagging]
[panting]
Placing the battery
above the lymphatic system.
I had found the key.
-[birds cawing]
-Nothing could stop me now.
Nothing.
No! No, do not take any bodies
from the top or the bottom
of the pile unless I mark them.
Ice or rot may have destroyed the tissue.
-[shooing]
-[bird caws]
Look only in the middle.
[grunts, sighs]
Abundance can be disorienting
unless one hones one's aim.
I'm favoring tall specimens, long limbs.
Scale will make the work easier.
[Harlander] I like that.
[men grunting]
Perfection.
And why not, dear Baron?
Indeed, why not?
[Victor] Look for a head that's intact.
Put that one in the cart.
[groans softly]
Set that one over there.
Bring the others.
Oh, good God.
[cheerful classical music playing]
[bones cracking]
Do you mind?
[cheerful classical music continues]
[squelching]
[cheerful classical music continues]
[flies buzzing]
[grunts]
[water splashing]
[exhales heavily]
[bolts tightening]
It is finished. [exhales]
-[music ends]
-[thunder rumbles]
[panting]
[thunderclap]
[thunderclap]
[lever creaks]
[machine powers up]
[water splashes]
[grunts]
[thunder continues rumbling]
[lever creaking]
[Victor grunting]
Herr Harlander!
A storm is coming!
[Harlander] My cane.
My cane!
My cane, in the handle.
Mercury.
-Are you ill?
-[Harlander] Thank you.
Is it syphilis?
[Harlander] Yeah, I'm dying.
One night with Venus,
a lifetime with Mercury.
Isn't that the phrase?
What stage?
Secondary?
We both know the precise schedule.
It starts to eat away my bones,
orbital, cheek, teeth, jaw, skull,
exposing my brain.
Tumors, madness, excruciating pain.
[chuckles] One fine morning,
I will start to scream
and I will never stop.
-I cannot face such a vulgar demise.
-[thunderclap]
Which brings me to my one condition.
Our deal. As agreed, in exchange
for my generous intervention
on your behalf.
And as we give life to our new Adam,
I want to be placed
in this new perfect body.
No.
-No, no.
-Yes.
Not now. Not now!
-Precisely now.
-We'll talk about this after, not now.
There is no after!
There is no after.
[thunderclaps continue]
[intense music playing]
[grunting]
I gave you everything you wanted!
I give you everything you ask for.
Name it, it's yours.
Even Elizabeth.
Please.
"Please" always helps.
The disease has spread all inside of you.
It's systemic, and you know it.
Every organ in you is polluted.
Your brain, your blood, it's all polluted.
But my money's not, is that it?
It's impossible.
Now, all you need to say
is one simple word.
"Yes," no more and no less.
No! Do you understand? No!
[thunderclaps continue]
What are you doing?
Stop!
Stop.
If we lose that, we have nothing.
We both lose.
I will be the eagle
that feasts on your liver!
Please, stop!
Herr Harlander. Herr Harlander!
[both grunting]
[gasps] Hold on, look at me!
-No! Herr Harlander!
-[Harlander screams]
[gasping]
[machinery clicking]
[dramatic music playing]
[electricity buzzing and crackling]
No, no. No!
[steam hissing]
[machinery groans]
-[grunting]
-[valves squeaking]
[metal groans]
[thuds]
[clicking]
[clangs]
[clangs]
[thunderclaps continue]
[crackling]
[panicked grunting]
[electrical explosion]
[charging up rapidly]
[rapid heartbeat]
[squelching]
[electricity crackles]
-[thunderclaps continue]
-[dramatic choral music playing]
[gasping]
[machinery powering down]
-[lever creaking]
-[grunting]
[battery crackling]
-[battery fizzes]
-No, no, no!
No!
[panting]
[loudly] No! No! No!
[whimpers]
[panting]
You lied to me.
You lied.
[creaking]
[Claire] Victor!
Victor!
[gasps, breathing heavily]
[metallic clattering]
[gasps]
[Victor gasping]
-[soft grunting]
-[Victor gasps sharply]
No, please.
[Victor gasping in awe]
[Victor shudders]
-[mumbling softly]
-[Victor gasping]
Look. Same.
[soft grunt]
[Victor breathes shakily]
-[whimpering]
-[Victor shushing]
Sun.
Sun. Light.
Face it.
Sunlight. The sun is
The sun is life.
[exhales loudly]
-[imitates Victor's exhale]
-Ah, the warmth. Huh?
-[moans softly]
-Yes! Yes.
-[breathing deeply]
-[Victor gasping]
[tender classical music playing]
[enunciates] Victor.
Victor.
-Victor.
-[laughs] Yes.
-Yes, yes, yes. Of course you are.
-[moaning softly]
Of course you are.
[heartbeat thumping]
Victor.
[Victor chuckles softly]
[servant] The mail, sir.
[William] Letters from the old estate.
Geneva.
-Is there anything from my uncle?
-No.
[exhales deeply]
[Elizabeth] Perhaps we should
pay them a visit.
[Victor] Careful. Look. Look down.
[water splashes]
Water. Water.
[laughing] Water.
Yes, water.
-Victor.
-No, I'm Victor.
That's water. Come here.
-Victor.
-Come now, come. All right, good.
We're going to take a big step.
We'll do it together. Ready?
This way, like this.
[laughing] No, not like that. This way.
Oh, no, no, no. Hot, hot.
No, don't touch. Don't touch that.
It's hot.
Sit. Very good. Very good. Yes.
-[Victor laughing]
-[grunting]
Yes. Now, look what I have here.
Look at this. What is this thing?
What is this strange thing? Careful.
[laughs] You're very strong.
-Yes. And like this. Huh?
-[cuff clicks]
Yes, you want another?
Yes, this one goes right here.
Key.
[slowly] Victor.
This will keep you nice and warm.
Nice blanket to keep you warm.
-[slowly] Victor.
-All right.
You stay.
You stay here now.
-[moans softly]
-Stay here now.
I'll be back. All right. Stay there.
-Victor.
-[chains rattling]
No, no, no, no, no. It's all right.
I'll come back.
-Victor.
-[sentimental classical music playing]
Victor.
[Victor] Everything was new to him.
Warmth, cold, light, darkness.
And I was there to mold him.
I never considered
what would come after creation.
And having reached the edge of the earth,
there was no horizon left.
The achievement felt unnatural.
Void of meaning.
And this troubled me so.
Your men, they wish to go back.
Yes?
Probably.
But the moment we're free,
we're setting sails forwards.
No matter the cost.
You share my madness.
[chuckles hollowly]
Perhaps there is a finer point
in me telling you my story.
Whether there is or isn't, Baron
I'd like to hear it.
[Victor] Weeks passed,
and as his strength increased rapidly,
mine waned.
Alas, no further language
or development occurred.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Down, down, down, down.
Yes, there we are.
There we are. Stay there. Stay.
[Victor sighs]
Yes, that's you.
That's you. All right?
Oh, yes, this is healing rather nicely.
I'm tired.
I have not slept.
Not a winky-dinky-doo of sleep for me.
Tending to you.
I've finished shaving you.
[moaning softly]
No, no, stop, stop.
-Let go. No, no, no, no, no, no. Open.
-[blood trickling]
Open your hand. Open. Open it.
[sighs]
What are you doing?
Look. Look what you've done.
You have to listen to me.
You have to listen. I said drop it.
Stupidity! No. Stop.
Come here.
-Victor.
-No, don't touch me!
Don't ever touch me!
Come here.
I didn't do this. You did this.
[inhales sharply]
The wound.
It's closed.
But how?
[subject grunts]
-[growling softly]
-All right.
-[continues growling]
-No, no, no.
No.
No.
-All right. All right.
-[stops growling]
[horse whinnies]
I'm sure everything's all right.
We'll be there soon enough.
[cuff clangs]
I know you have thoughts. I know.
I know you do.
Somewhere in there.
Somewhere in there you have thoughts.
Hmm? Don't you?
Something you might want to say?
However jumbled, however confused?
Hmm? Something?
Am I presuming too much?
Victor.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
This much we have established.
That is my name. My name is Victor.
Is there anything else that you can say?
Anything at all? Hmm?
Anything? Anything?
Um, sun, hmm?
Cold. Rain. Blood. Anything.
Boot. Can you say "boot"?
Victor.
[Victor laughs in frustration]
No, yes, no, yes! How about
How about "hand"? Can you say "hand"?
-Hand. Hand.
-[growls]
Oh. Oh, oh. You are afraid of me?
You're afraid of me?
Why? Why would you be afraid of me?
I'm not going to hurt you.
I'm not going to hurt you. I made you.
I'm your maker! Stop it!
-[whimpering]
-[muffled banging on door]
[breathing heavily]
Oh.
You're here. You're really here.
Come on, then. Come, come.
I have to tell you.
I have so much to show you, Elizabeth.
You won't believe it.
It's absolutely marvelous.
Come, come,
I'll show you my notes first.
Is my uncle here?
What?
My uncle, is he here?
No, no.
No, I'm alone. He's not here.
-He's He'll be back in a few days.
-You don't look very well, Victor.
Oh, I've never felt better!
I've never had a clearer mind! Come, come!
Are you running a fever?
I am just very excited
to see you. [chuckles]
I'm exalted.
The spirits have lifted me so much.
Absolutely marvelous
[in distance] Victor
[William] Victor. Victor.
[continues indistinctly]
-[gentle ethereal music playing]
-[chain rattling]
[gentle ethereal music continues]
-[Elizabeth breathing shakily]
-[grunting softly]
[chuckles softly]
[Elizabeth gasping softly]
Who hurt you?
I have to show you this, William.
Let me organize it for you.
And I have something to show to you.
I've spoken to the Royal Medical Society.
-They're interested in seeing you.
-No, no, no, not yet.
I'm not quite ready yet.
[William] I thought
that's what you always wanted.
[Elizabeth panting]
The man.
-The man downstairs.
-You saw him?
Is he a patient? A victim?
His wounds. You wounded him like that.
No, no, no. It was the world
that hurt him, Elizabeth.
I I gave him life.
I gave him life.
Up, up, up.
Come on.
There, there, there
He's still getting
used to his surroundings.
-[low growl]
-[Victor shushes]
It is strong, William.
-You did it.
-[Victor] It's so strong.
You did it.
All its systems are functional.
-All healing.
-[neck cracks]
And the healing is erratic, yes.
-But exceptional.
-[groans softly]
[chain clangs]
Why is he chained here?
For his own safety and for mine,
and it's easy to clean
and, uh, maintain it.
And it doesn't know any better.
But you do.
Does Harlander know?
We have to prepare everything
for the moment he returns.
-[Victor] Of course.
-And have everything presentable.
Is it intelligent?
Victor, is it intelligent?
[thunder rumbling]
[William] I can't fathom
how exactly you did what you did,
but its dimension does not escape me.
Victor, did you ever ask yourself,
of all the parts that make that man,
which one holds the soul?
No, I didn't.
[William] There's something so disquieting
about that creature down there.
Askew, like a figure peeking around
a funhouse mirror.
But animated.
Animated by what?
-[gentle classical music playing]
-[chain rattling]
[grunts softly]
[gentle classical music continues]
[chain clanks]
[thunder rumbles]
[groans softly]
Does it hurt?
A leaf?
For me?
Thank you.
Isn't it beautiful?
This is for me?
I'm Elizabeth.
Can you say "Elizabeth"?
Elizabeth.
My throat makes sounds.
Elizabeth.
I'm going to go now.
Eliza beth.
[Victor] You should not go near it.
"It"?
It. Yes.
I believe there is life in it,
but not the spark of intelligence
that I had intended.
Perhaps not as you understand it.
Something went wrong.
A blockage, a suture, a connection.
You, the great Victor Frankenstein,
you made a mistake?
The Creature knows but one word,
and one word alone.
"Victor, Victor, Victor, Victor."
It just parrots it
without rhyme or reason.
Perhaps for the time being
that word means everything to him.
What if in being anew,
the spirit that animates him is simpler,
-purer--
-[scoffs] Purer?
-Purer than that of the common man?
-[laughing]
What if, unrestrained by sin,
our creator's breath came
into its wounded flesh directly?
Good God, Elizabeth.
If I could force myself to believe it,
it would be my inclination to see
attraction in you for that thing.
Understanding.
In those eyes I saw pain,
and what is pain
if not evidence of intelligence?
What about my pain?
What about what you have denied me?
What my heart wants
Your heart? [chuckling quietly]
Of all the human anatomy,
that is the organ
furthest from your understanding.
Only monsters play God, Baron.
[metal clatters]
[Victor] Purer than the common man, hmm?
[Victor chuckles]
And I, somehow, the villain. Mm-hmm.
Your heart is pure?
I assure you it isn't.
I should know. I put it there.
Up.
Let us try again.
Now give me your leg.
Leg!
-[gasps]
-Give me your leg!
Pain is evidence of intelligence,
is it not?
-Well, let's test the theory.
-[grunts]
Give me your leg!
Leg!
Leg!
-Come on!
-[gasps]
Give it to me, you beast!
-[whimpering softly]
-Give me your leg!
[growls softly]
Leg!
[roars]
-[rod clatters]
-Victor!
Victor!
Victor!
Victor! Victor!
What is it, Victor?
Come. Come. [breathing heavily]
I failed. I made a mistake.
-No, you didn't fail. I saw your papers.
-I did.
-It's perfect.
-The Creature is extremely dangerous.
There's not Victor.
Let's wait for Harlander
and discuss together.
William, there is something
you should know.
Something I have to show you.
[door opens]
-[William] Ha-- Harlander
-In a fit of rage, he killed him.
[William breathing shakily]
Do you understand now
why I was hesitant to share this with you?
And certainly not with Elizabeth.
S So what's to be done now?
What?
-What's to be done?
-"What's to be done"?
You must take Elizabeth back to Vienna.
Tell her something urgent came up
and you have to leave immediately.
Keep her in the dark.
For her own safety.
You have to do as I say.
We'll be back in no time.
But for now, this is for the best.
Now get in the carriage, please.
The Creature,
what's its lifespan, you think?
Brief. Very brief, I'm sure.
[suspenseful music playing]
I have the most terrible feeling.
What is it?
Turn the carriage around.
You go to Vienna.
Turn the carriage around or I will jump.
He's going to kill him.
[can clatters]
Say one word.
One word more. Anything.
Make me save you.
-Victor.
-Mm-hmm.
[suspenseful music continues]
Elizabeth.
[sinister music plays]
[grunts]
-[flame roaring]
-[sinister music intensifies]
[panting]
[steam whistling]
[chains clanking]
[bellowing] Victor! Victor!
[gasps]
-Victor!
-[chain rattling]
-Victor!
-[sinister music intensifying]
[grunts]
[groaning]
[screaming]
[explosions]
[horse neighs in distance]
[explosions continue]
[Victor] But that was not the end of it.
In seeking life, I created death.
-[knocking]
-[urgent shouting from outside]
It would seem
I need to address my men again.
[grunting]
Don't worry.
They'll listen to me.
[wind whistling]
[Anderson grunts]
-[roars]
-[Victor] No, no, stop!
Do not harm him! I'm here.
-Take me.
-[growls]
[Anderson] Go on, beast.
Kill us both. Confirm your maker's tale.
[dark music playing]
[coughs weakly]
My maker told his tale.
[growls softly]
Then I will tell you mine.
[dramatic sinister music playing]
[shouting] Victor!
-Victor! Victor! Victor!
-[chain rattling]
[creature] I called your name
and understood I was alone.
[explosions]
-[glass breaking]
-[rod creaking]
[rod creaking]
[straining]
[explosion]
[sinister music intensifies]
[cuffs shatter]
[steam blasting]
[flame roaring]
[explosions continue]
-[melancholy music playing]
-[explosions continue in distance]
[gags]
[retches]
[explosions continue in distance]
[wheezing]
[grunting]
-[wheezes]
-[birds cawing]
[birds cawing]
[grunts softly]
[deer snorts]
[deer grunts]
[deer snorting]
[sucking]
[chuckles]
[deer snorts]
[chuckles]
-[gunshot]
-[deer groans]
[birds cawing]
-What is that?
-Shoot at it!
-[hunter 1] Shoot it!
-[groans]
[tense music plays]
[snarling]
[hunter 2] Did you get it?
[birds cawing]
[hunter 2] Where is it?
[gunshot]
[grunts]
[thunder rumbling]
[gasps softly]
[creature] My wounds had healed.
But I felt cold, so cold.
[melancholy music playing]
[rats squeaking]
[rats squeaking]
[shudders]
[whimpers softly]
[squeaking]
[door opens]
-[man] Can you start the fire?
-[woman] All right.
[man] And I'll repair the corral
as soon as I can.
[suspenseful music playing]
You all right, then? Did you get it?
[hunter 1] Nah, we looked everywhere.
Couldn't find that thing.
Though we shot at it two times.
[hunter 2] Blood trail died
about a mile from here.
[man] All right. Come in. Come in.
[hunter 1] We followed it for a while
and then it disappeared. Gone.
[woman] What was it? Was it a bear?
[hunter 1] That was no bear or human.
I've never seen anything like it.
[woman] Was it a ghost, then?
It was no ghost. We drew blood.
It was flesh and bone.
[man] Come, come. Over here.
Tell me more about what you saw.
Anna-Maria, take your grandfather
over by the fireplace.
Make sure he's comfortable.
[Anna-Maria] Over here, Grandfather.
[hunter 2] We went deep into the forest.
Couldn't find it.
[indistinct chatter]
[blind man chuckles]
[man] We will get it.
-It'll take time.
-[hunter 2] Yeah.
[woman] Anna-Maria, come.
Come, love. Help me outside.
[soft music playing]
[creature] The old man moved me.
And his unseeing eyes were full of wisdom.
These people possessed a sound.
[blind man laughs]
Used it to tell each other
about feelings and ideas.
They called them words.
Pay attention.
What is this?
[Anna-Maria] A boy.
-And again.
-[Anna-Maria] A boy.
Very good, my child.
And this?
An An eye.
-[blind man] And again.
-[Anna-Maria] An eye.
Yeah. Well done. Well done, my girl.
-[creature, softly] Eye.
-[blind man] And this one?
[Anna-Maria] The hand.
-[blind man] Very good.
-Hand.
Give us a hand.
Tie a rope around
the biggest one back there.
[creature] I longed
to be part of this family.
[man] We'll need more kindling
before the winter.
[hunter 2] We'll take a few trips.
[creature] To be their benefactor.
[man] We'll need larger trunks
for the structure.
[hunter 2] All right.
[creature] What could
I possibly do for them?
[cheerful classical music playing]
Anna-Maria! Father!
Come! Come and see!
[gasps] Look, Anna-Maria!
Look, there's more! Look!
Who could have done this?
The Spirit of the Forest.
We should thank him.
Thank you.
Say, "Thank you, Spirit of the Forest."
Thank you.
Thank you, Spirit of the Forest.
-[Anna-Maria giggles]
-[man] Thank you.
[hunter 2] Come. Look over here.
Thank you.
From then on,
I became their invisible guardian.
The Spirit of the Forest.
And on occasion, they too
extended a small kindness towards me.
Clothes, bread.
And for a moment,
a brief, brief moment,
the world and I were at peace.
-[sheep bleating]
-[man] Come along. Come along.
In you go. Yeah.
[hunter 2] Make sure you close that gate.
[woman] Who could have done this?
The Spirit of the Forest, eh?
[man] I got it.
[Anna-Maria] "And in the end,
the proud young man
could never find his missing hand."
"It turned to stone, his fortune gone,
and he lost his pride and lost his land."
[others clapping]
[blind man laughs]
[clapping silently]
[blind man] Very good, my dear.
Beautifully read. Now try this one.
-[sheep crying]
-[howling in distance]
[muffled barking]
[footsteps rumbling]
Wolves.
[wolves howling]
[foreboding music playing]
[growling]
[wolves snarling and barking ferociously]
[sheep bleating anxiously]
[sheep screeching]
[growls]
[wolves barking]
[door rattling]
[growling quietly]
[barking continues]
-[gunshot]
-[gasps]
[gunshot]
[wolf convulsing]
[breath trembling]
[wolf groaning]
[creature] An idea,
a feeling became clear to me.
The hunter did not hate the wolf.
The wolf did not hate the sheep.
[growling]
[wolf barks]
But violence felt inevitable between them.
Perhaps, I thought,
this was the way of the world.
It would hunt you and kill you
just for being who you are.
[wolf snarls]
The sheep will be sold
by the end of the month, Father.
Then I'll take you,
Alma and Anna-Maria into town.
We'll go into the mountains,
hunt the wolves
and be back at the end of winter.
I pray here alone every winter
and this year will be no different.
Please, Father, listen to reason.
You do what you must and so will I.
[man] You stubborn old goat.
It's just you and I now, Spirit.
Just you and I.
And I had formed
in my imagination many ways
I would present myself to the old man.
-Would he fear me?
-[door creaks]
Welcome me?
Turn me away?
[door creaks]
Who goes there?
[gasps]
-[rat squeaks]
-[gasps]
[creature] With a single step,
I entered a different world.
One I had only seen from afar.
[blind man] Please, who is it?
Answer me.
Tell me.
Why are you here?
[creature] Travel.
Welcome, dear traveler.
Do not think me ungrateful for the company
if I ask you to procure a chair.
I I find it difficult
being a good host.
Yes.
My My sight has failed me.
[chuckles] But there is bread
and brandy on the table.
Pray help yourself.
[creature] Bran dy?
Your language.
You have a hard time speaking it.
Are you not from these parts?
-[bottle shatters]
-[creature gasping]
Are you afraid?
No need to be.
What are you afraid of?
-[creature] Everything.
-[blind man] Your
Your hands are frozen
and you've been hurt, have you not?
[creature] Hurt?
Yes. Your hands and face have scars
and you are wearing uniform.
Were you injured in battle?
You were hiding
in the mill gears, were you not?
[creature grunts sheepishly]
[blind man] Ah!
[both chuckle]
Yeah. Yeah. The Spirit of the Forest.
-[creature] Yes.
-[chuckles]
I cannot judge of your countenance,
but there is something in your voice
which persuades me
of your goodwill and kindness.
-Kindness?
-Mm.
Stay with me.
Share my food and fire.
I would be delighted
to share what little I have with you
and would be greatly helped
by your companionship.
And you you could read to me.
-Read?
-Mm.
Make this your home and I your friend.
Friend.
Friend.
[grunting softly]
[chuckles softly]
Friends.
[creature] And it was then
that I read my first story,
and it was the first story.
I read about a man named Adam
and a woman named Eve,
about their time in the first garden.
I read about the rise of rival cities
and the collapse of a tower
and the wrath of a God.
And I read about men
that fought dragons
and men who lost everything.
And time passed
and fell away with the leaves of autumn.
[tender classical music playing]
Have you never seen the snow,
my dear friend?
It makes the world clean and new.
[creature gasping in awe]
[creature] "My name
is Ozymandias, King of Kings."
"Look on my works,
ye Mighty, and despair."
"No thing beside remains."
"Round the decay of that colossal wreck,
boundless and bare."
"The lone and level sands
stretch far away."
[softly] "My name is Ozymandias"
Are there more books
than this in the world?
[blind man laughs]
A few more, I'm sure.
Not here.
Last book on the left. Take it.
We haven't got to it.
Paradise Lost, Milton.
Man has questions for God.
Even God has questions.
I think he wanted answers
and that is why he sent us his son.
Death probably intrigued him.
Suffering.
I want to know who I am.
Where do I come from?
God took your memory just as I wish
he would take mine away.
Many years ago, I took a man's life.
A good man.
And I have been atoning for it since.
Forgive.
Forget.
The true measure of wisdom.
To know you have been harmed,
by whom you have been harmed,
and choose to let it all fade.
But I cannot forget
what I cannot remember.
Do you recall nothing?
In my dreams
[pensive classical music playing]
I see memories.
Different men.
All pieces.
[inhales sharply]
I
I remember f fire and water.
And sand under my feet.
And a word.
A single word.
What is it?
Victor.
[blind man] Go to it.
The word.
[melancholy classical music playing]
[grunting softly]
[creature] And then I learned it.
The horror of the truth.
I understood that I was nothing.
A wretch.
A blot.
Not even of the same nature as man.
This hurt clung to my mind.
It never let go.
[thunder rumbling]
[sighs]
[melancholy classical music continues]
Then I saw it.
Your name.
"Victor Frankenstein."
And where to find you.
[wind blowing]
-[wolves growling and snarling]
-[tense music playing]
[creature panting]
No!
No!
[screaming]
[grunting]
[growling]
[creature groaning]
-[creature grunts]
-[wolf yelping]
[grunts loudly]
[wolf snarling]
[bones cracking]
[both panting]
[roars gutturally]
[roaring]
[wolves howling in distance]
[labored breathing]
[melancholy classical music playing]
[blind man] You came back.
I found what I am.
What I am made from.
I am the child of a charnel house.
A wreckage.
Assembled from refuse
and the discarded dead.
[breath shuddering]
A monster.
I know what you are.
A good man.
And you are my friend.
Friend?
Friend.
[hunter 2] What is that thing?
[gun clicks]
The-- The thing from the woods?
[man] What have you done to him?
Don't move.
-[groans]
-[tense music plays]
Quick! Reload! Kill it!
[screams]
[creature grunts]
[groaning softly]
[wind whistling]
[pained breathing]
[shuddering]
[grunts]
[breathing erratically]
[shudders]
[choked breathing]
[gagging]
[wheezing]
[wheezing stops]
[creature] There was silence again,
and then merciless life.
[wheezing]
-[melancholy music playing]
-[gagging]
[groaning]
How long did I die for?
I do not know.
But I saw my injuries healed.
The cold winter air stung in my lungs.
I felt lonelier than ever,
because for every man
there was but one remedy to all pain:
Death, a gift you too had denied me.
Envy rose within me
and decided to demand
a single grace from you.
My creator.
I would demand a companion.
[fire crackling]
[Victor gasps]
[eerie inhuman screech]
[gasping]
[knock on door]
[William] I need you to get up.
[Victor] Yes, of course. Of course.
[William] The wedding will start soon
and I want you by my side.
It's hard to believe,
if not for your kind nature.
[groans]
I've spoken to a few guests
about the inquest.
About the explosion.
The majority accept it for what it was.
And what was it, William?
The past, Victor.
A terrible accident.
I intend to sell the estate.
All we have is each other.
[Victor chuckles]
[joyful classical music playing]
[creature breathing heavily]
I want you to throw the petals everywhere.
Throw them everywhere.
Mm.
Go upstairs and do some more of that.
[Victor] I know it is bad luck
to see the bride before the ceremony.
[Elizabeth] Only for the groom.
[Victor] Yes, that's right. Not for me.
Hello, Elizabeth.
[sighs in hesitation]
I've rarely felt remorse
before and now I feel little else. I
A fever gripped me for so long,
but it has passed,
and I see you now as I should.
For whatever it's worth,
I I wish you and my little brother,
who I love more than life, the very best.
You may like to believe you do.
And I dread to even hear it.
On my wedding day,
I ask you but for a single grace.
No more lies.
-I-- I want to tell you--
-Leave my chambers now.
-Elizabeth.
-Leave!
[grunting in anger]
[huffs sharply]
[wind howling softly]
[dramatic ominous music playing]
[breathing heavily]
[ominous music continues]
[nervous breath]
Come out of the shadows,
if you are here.
[Victor gasps sharply]
[breathing shakily]
Are you here to thank me?
You survived and are intelligent enough
to have found me.
I made you well.
I need you to make a companion for me.
One like me.
A com A companion?
Oh.
I see.
Another monster.
Yes.
We can be monsters together.
I have found sanity at such a cost,
and you here are madness calling me back.
I cannot die.
And I cannot live
alone.
In you I have created
something truly horrible.
Not something.
Someone.
You made someone.
Me.
Whatever puzzle I am, creator, I think.
I feel.
I have this sole petition
Make one like me.
And then what?
Procreation.
Reproduction.
Mm
A home?
A grave?
Death begetting death begetting death.
A race of devils
propagated upon the earth.
Obscenity perpetuating itself.
I am obscene to you,
but to myself I simply am.
Begone!
[grunts]
Never again will I make
something like you, wicked and deformed.
Then it is still
all about your will, Victor.
Hmm?
That horrible, horrible will
that birthed me condemns me now?
The miracle is not that I should speak,
but that you would ever listen!
[Victor yells]
[muffled crashing]
If you are not to award me love,
then I will indulge in rage.
And mine is infinite.
[Victor grunts]
-[loud clattering]
-[guests exclaim]
Step aside.
Victor.
What's going on?
[Elizabeth gasping]
[gentle piano music playing]
[Elizabeth sobbing softly]
[Elizabeth] You
You
It's you.
[Elizabeth sobs]
Elizabeth, move away from it!
No!
[Elizabeth gasps]
[Elizabeth gasps in pain]
[guests clamoring]
[Victor] It attacked her! It attacked her!
[all grunting]
[sharp thud]
[breathing heavily]
[Elizabeth] Take me with you.
[sorrowful classical music playing]
[guests gasp, exclaim in fear]
-[woman] Oh, my God!
-[women scream]
[sorrowful classical music continues]
[Victor grunts]
-No, let me I can save you.
-[groans]
I can save you.
From what?
From you?
I fear you, Victor.
No, no
I always have.
Every ounce of madness and destruction.
The very conflagration
that devoured everything.
It all came from you.
[sobs]
You are the monster.
[Victor sobs]
[kisses]
[breathing heavily]
[wind howling]
[mournful classical music playing]
[Elizabeth sniffles]
[Elizabeth] My place
was never in this world.
I sought and longed for something
I could not quite name.
But in you, I found it.
To be lost and to be found,
that is the lifespan of love.
[Elizabeth sobs]
And in its brevity,
its tragedy
[choking up]
this has been made eternal.
Better this way to fade
[sniffles]
with your eyes gazing upon me.
[Elizabeth exhales]
[creature whimpering softly]
[mournful classical music continues]
[Victor grunting]
[breathing heavily]
She is gone and I long to follow.
[both grunting]
You gave me life unwanted.
I give that back to you.
You thought me a monster.
Now I return the favor.
-[bones cracking]
-[screaming]
Kill me! Kill me now, do it!
-[groans]
-I will make you bleed.
I will make you humble.
You may be my creator,
but from this day forward,
I will be your master.
[coughs]
[grunting in pain]
[grunting]
[grunts]
[Victor panting]
[tense music playing]
[creature]
You hunted me past the forests,
past the mountains,
past frozen horizons,
until there was nothing left.
Just you and me.
[dogs barking]
[dogs barking]
-[dogs barking outside]
-[indistinct chatter]
[Victor] I need ammunition.
Sharpen this.
Three cans of condensed milk,
some firewood.
[breathes sharply]
And six sticks of dynamite.
[clerk] Six?
What are you hunting?
Big game.
[wind whistling]
[dogs panting]
[dogs whining and barking]
[barking intensifies]
[shivering]
[grunts, breathing heavily]
-[dogs continue barking]
-[gun clicks]
[footsteps approaching]
-[creature groans]
-[gunshot]
[Victor grunts]
-[dogs barking]
-[Victor whimpering]
[grunts]
[panting]
-[creature growls]
-[grunts]
[dogs barking]
-[Victor groaning]
-[creature growling]
No! No! No!
[creature] Victor.
You only listen when I hurt you.
-[bones crack]
-[Victor screaming]
-[bones crack, snaps]
-[yells in pain]
-[stabs]
-[groaning]
This. You put your faith in this.
You think this will unmake me.
Hmm.
Light it then and hope it does,
but if it does not,
I will come for you again.
[screams] Light it!
[whimpering]
Now run.
-[Victor grunting]
-[suspenseful music playing]
[groans]
[Victor grunting]
[suspenseful music continues]
[Victor yells]
[grunting]
[creature] So, there you were,
broken and discarded.
And I,
alive again.
[creature wheezing]
I could feel my singed flesh regrowing.
The crackling of my bones resetting.
The murmur of my blood
pumping through my incessant heart.
And once more finding no mercy,
I had but one path.
[roaring gutturally]
[dogs barking]
[shouting in Danish]
[creature in English] And here we are.
Spent and done.
No more in us to give or take.
The blood outside the tent
[creature] It is mine.
All mine.
I will bleed.
Ache.
Suffer.
You see, it will never end.
[inhales deeply]
[wistful classical music playing]
I am sorry.
Regret consumes me.
And I now regard my life for what it was.
You will go now, creator.
Fade away.
It will all be but a brief moment.
-[wheezes]
-My birth. My grief.
Your loss.
I will not be punished.
Nor absolved.
What hope I had,
what rage
It is all nothing.
The tide that brought me here
now comes to take you away.
Leaving me stranded.
Forgive me.
My son.
[creature chokes up]
And if you have it in your heart,
forgive yourself into existence.
If death is not to be,
then consider this, my son.
While you are alive,
what recourse do you have but to live?
Live.
Say my name.
My father gave me that name,
and it meant nothing.
Now I ask you to give it back to me
one last time.
The way you said it at the beginning.
When it meant the world to you.
Victor.
[inhales sharply]
I forgive you.
[creature whimpering]
[exhales deeply]
[wistful classical music continues]
Rest now, Father.
Perhaps now,
we can both be human.
[Anderson in Danish] Weapons down.
-Put the weapons down!
-I am responsible for my men.
He can leave.
-[wind whistling]
-[sentimental classical music continues]
[hull creaks]
[men exclaiming]
[ship creaking]
[sailor in Danish] We are free!
We are free!
[men cheering]
Captain
What are your orders?
Man the sails.
Turn around.
Do you want to tell the men?
Men!
We're sailing home!
We're sailing home!
[all cheering]
[Larsen shouts in Danish]
[sentimental classical music playing]
[wind whistling]
[sentimental music continues]
[somber classical music playing]
[sentimental classical music playing]
[dramatic classical music playing]
[pensive classical music playing]
[upbeat classical music playing]