The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
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National Theatre Live: Frankenstein
Drama · Horror · Science Fiction · 2011
Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the friendless Creature, increasingly desperate and vengeful, determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal. Urgent concerns of scientific responsibility, parental neglect, cognitive development and the nature of good and evil are embedded within this thrilling and deeply disturbing tale.
Movie details
National Theatre Live: Frankenstein
2011 Drama · Horror · Science Fiction 2h 10m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.7 / 10
Community rating
Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the friendless Creature, increasingly desperate and vengeful, determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal. Urgent concerns of scientific responsibility, parental neglect, cognitive development and the nature of good and evil are embedded within this thrilling and deeply disturbing tale.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over National Theatre Live: Frankenstein?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Frankenstein
Drama · 1931
Henry Frankenstein pieces together body parts in the hope of bringing a human-like creature to life. The mad scientist’s dreams are shattered by his monstrous creation awakening with rage to a world that hates and fears him.
Frankenstein
Drama · 2025
Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist, brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
Santa Sangre
Horror · 1989
A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless, cult leader mother, and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.
The Eyes of My Mother
Drama · 2016
A young, lonely woman is consumed by her deepest and darkest desires after tragedy strikes her quiet country life.
Castle Freak
Thriller · 1996
John Reilly discovers that his family's newly inherited castle in Italy is haunted by a relentless, bloodthirsty creature.
A Quiet Place
Horror · 2018
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.
Baby Blues
Drama · 2008
On a secluded family farm, a mother suffers a psychotic break due to postpartum depression, forcing the eldest son to protect his sibling from the mother they have always known and loved.
The Surrender
Drama · 2025
A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead.
Werewolf: The Beast Among Us
Drama · 2012
Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.
The Woman in Black
Drama · 2012
The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps, who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true identity.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Danny Boyle · Tim Van Someren
Written by
Nick Dear
Benedict Cumberbatch
The Creature / Victor Frankenstein
Jonny Lee Miller
The Creature / Victor Frankenstein
Ella Smith
Gretel / Clarice
Naomie Harris
Elizabeth Lavenza
George Harris
M. Frankenstein
Karl Johnson
De Lacey
D
Daniel Millar
Felix de Lacey
Court is in session
Put National Theatre Live: Frankenstein on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.