I had been itching to watch Frankenstein for the last two weeks, but Morgan’s nursing schedule and the plethora of theater releases I needed to attend to kept us from it until tonight. I read Frankenstein in high school and enjoyed it, but I don’t think it (nor my viewing of Young Frankenstein in October) prepared me for how much I would love this.

What stood out earliest, of course, were the visuals. I had seen a few people complaining about the CGI-ness of the settings in this film, but that didn’t really bother me since they were so gorgeous. The lighting was especially great, be it the sun or candles or the shadows they cast; they all added such a gravitas and ambience to the film.

The story was also immensely powerful, much more so than my memory of the novel. Even with a narrative so well-worn, del Toro brought some freshness to the story, and its themes about prejudice and perspective were crystal clear. Though there were moments of intense and grisly violence, moments of surprising tenderness and sincerity were in equal measure. Those sweeter scenes, especially between Frankenstein’s monster, Elizabeth, and the blind man, were really touching and unexpected.

There is no way that this story would hit as hard as it did, though, without the trio of stellar central performances. Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth were both lovely, countering each other really well while each having their own scenes to show off—in Isaac’s case, his craziness and ambition, and in Goth’s, her beauty and compassion. Despite their great performances, it was Jacob Elordi who stole the show. I definitely doubted his abilities when he was cast, but after seeing him in that makeup, I was hoping to be surprised, and I sure was. From his body movements to his speaking style and his complex demeanor (both kind and incredibly imposing), Elordi was a revelation as the monster, and he deserves an Oscar nom in whichever category they deem him.

I say this with a caveat, since I haven’t actually seen the original Frankenstein, but Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of this story may be its very best iteration. Just like how he dazzled with his dark (but canonically sound) take on Pinocchio, Frankenstein seemed to bring out the absolute most from this story, and it was awesome to watch, even if it was two weeks later than I had hoped and on a screen much smaller than it deserved. Netflix, can we extend our theater runs, please? Especially when your movies are this good.