Forgive Me, My Son: Frankenstein and Cycles of Abuse Written by: Joe Marandola

This blog contains movie spoilers!

A good film stays with you during its runtime. A great film stays with you long after the credits roll. Very few films have stayed in my mind as much as Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025), inspired by Mary Shelley’s 1818 Gothic novel. The dark direction and cinematography, the eerie yet playful score, and the powerful performances are all top-notch. What stays with me most, however, is how the film explores abuse, trauma bonds, loneliness, family dynamics, and forgiveness.

The first half is told from Victor Frankenstein’s perspective, recounting his childhood and the creation of The Creature. Victor’s childhood was deeply traumatic. He lost his mother young and was raised by a strict and abusive father, alongside his younger brother William. His father, who visibly favored William, demanded Victor dedicate his life to medicine and often punished him with physical violence. As an adult, Victor becomes obsessed with conquering death. His arrogance and perfectionism worry those around him, especially William’s fiancée, Elizabeth, a kind and curious woman who rejects his advances. Her rejection pushes him deeper into isolation. The film clearly shows how Victor’s childhood trauma shapes him, as his obsession with science leads him to push away those who care for him, leaving him isolated.

The cycle of trauma becomes most apparent after Victor creates life. The Creature, a large but gentle being made from the corpses of fallen soldiers, fascinates Victor at first. He teaches it to speak his name, though he never gives it one of its own, and guides it around his manor. But Victor soon becomes frustrated when The Creature struggles with language. He chains it in the basement “for their mutual safety” and begins treating it as his father treated him, with violence and cruelty. His attempts to discipline The Creature mirror the abuse he experienced, and despite its strength and regenerative abilities, the pressure causes it to lash out.

When Elizabeth reenters Victor’s life, she treats The Creature with kindness, patience, and compassion. He becomes deeply attached to her, much as Victor was to his mother, even learning her name as his second word. This leads to conflict: Elizabeth sees The Creature as a human being, while Victor only sees a failed experiment, consistently calling it an “it.” The film again shows the destructive cycle of abuse: Victor cannot imagine raising another being any differently than he was raised. Anyone who challenges him is ignored, and ultimately, his unresolved trauma leads him to burn his lab and abandon The Creature.

The story then shifts to The Creature’s perspective. He befriends a blind man, one of the few who do not fear or judge him. The family believes him to be a kind forest spirit, giving The Creature his first real experience of affection. But when wolves kill the blind man, The Creature is blamed and loses his only comfort. Facing the crushing isolation of immortality, he seeks Victor and asks him to create a companion like him, mirroring Victor’s own loneliness.

One line captures the film’s central theme. The Creature reflects:
“An idea, a feeling, became clear to me. The hunter did not hate the wolf. The wolf did not hate the sheep. But violence felt inevitable between them. Perhaps, I thought, this was the way of the world.”

This shows the tragedy at the heart of the story. Victor does not truly hate his creation, yet he harms it. He projects his pain onto the only being he can control, seeing it as an “it” rather than a son or person. Trauma and misunderstanding can make violence feel unavoidable, but it is not natural; it is learned.

The tension peaks when Victor, enraged by the Creature and Elizabeth’s growing bond, attempts to kill the Creature but accidentally kills Elizabeth. Symbolically, he recreates the emotional damage his father inflicted, then blames The Creature, repeating the cycle of trauma.

This leads to the final scene, where Victor, now on the verge of death, finally reunites with The Creature after months of fruitless pursuit. Something surprising happens: after hearing The Creature’s story, Victor apologizes, finally seeing him as a son and recognizing his failures as a father. Even more unexpectedly, The Creature forgives him. In that final moment, they see each other as equals, father and son, more alike than either ever realized.

The final apology is incredibly powerful. Despite everything Victor put the Creature through, the Creature still finds the strength to forgive. And despite Victor’s trauma and isolation hardening into ego and anger, he is finally able to recognize the harm he caused.

The film’s message is clear: every person, no matter their experiences or trauma, is complex and human. Abuse and trauma are difficult to overcome, but through compassion, accountability, and support, healing is possible. Your past does not determine your future. By choosing understanding over anger, kindness over cruelty, and connection over isolation, you can break the cycle and create something better.

By the end, the Creature, at peace with his past, walks away ready to live his life fully. Your past does not define you. No matter how overwhelming hardship may seem, you have the power to change, to break the cycle, and to grow stronger because of it.