The girls who get it get it, the girls who don’t don’t. And holy shit do I get Diablo Cody and Zelda Williams’ Lisa Frankenstein.
This film is for the weird girls. The girls that never felt truly seen by their peers, the girls with unconventional interests, the girls that get shoved into the “other” box. There is a certain genre of chaotically feminine movies that are never received well by the public at release, but after 5-10 years will be solidified as a cult classic. The 80s gave us Heathers, the aughts gave us Jennifer’s Body. Lisa Frankenstein is a spiritual successor, channeling dark comedy with a cotton candy backdrop and a healthy dose of gross teenage boys getting murdered.
Lisa Frankenstein is pretty obvious about it’s influences, a bubblegum John Hughes fantasy with a darker edge, and once that is established it’s pretty easy to see how everything will play out. However, it manages to stay refreshing in areas where you wouldn’t expect. For example, Lisa’s step-sister Taffy (Liza Soberano) is the pretty, perky cheerleader that would normally be the villain of a high school flick like this, but she actually ends up being one of the most sympathetic characters while Lisa herself becomes more and more unhinged.
While this is, obviously, a loose Frankenstein adaptation, the Creature (Cole Sprouse) is pretty much just an accessory for Lisa (Kathryn Newton) in pretty much every definition of the word. We don’t know anything about him, other than a few clues from the opening credits. We don’t know his name, how he came back to life, or if he has any wants from life other than keeping Lisa safe. He doesn’t even speak, miming or grunting whenever communication is needed. But none of it really matters, this story is more so about Lisa’s transformation from an awkward, drab, selectively mute girl to embracing her “weird” status and, in a twisted way, thriving on it. Each time she restores a part of the Creature, she gains more confidence and her personality shines through a bit more.
If I were to improve on one thing in this movie, it would possibly be the pacing. There were a few times when the camera lingered on a scene a little too long or there were a few long pauses in between lines, like those edits of sitcoms without the laugh tracks. This wasn’t too much of an issue, but it happened enough times that it felt necessary to add here.
While it is only February, this has been the most fun movie I have seen this year. It’s pink and black and funny and charming, and I know that come October I have a new favorite to force my friends to watch with me. Zelda Williams knocked it out of the park with her directorial debut, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Fun: 5/5
Quality: 3/5
