Lisa Frankenstein – A Weird and Wacky Romcom (Early Review)

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, what’s more romantic than falling in love with a re-animated corpse? That’s what happens to Lisa in Lisa Frankenstein, an interesting take on the Frankenstein’s Monster story, originally written by Mary Shelley back in the 1800s. The story follows Lisa Swallows (Newton), a young high school goth who is trying to attract the attention of her crush, Michael Trent (Henry Eikenberry). Lisa, tending to a local graveyard where she enjoyed spending time at, suddenly finds herself with the re-animated corpse of a particular grave. The premise, however, only kind of works, with Newton and Cole Sprouse making good on-screen partners, but not the most interesting onscreen romance. While it is certainly going to have its audience, the film just never truly comes together enough to remain engaging.

It’s 1989, Lisa is living with her dad, step-mom and step-sister following the brutal murder of her mother. She is what one might call an outcast, introverted and quiet with an affinity for the dead rather than the living, and one who prefers to spend her time in the local cemetery rather than with her family or schoolmates. When lightning strikes one of the graves that Lisa frequently tended to, she suddenly found herself faced with a re-animated corpse. Whilst hiding a decades old corpse in her house, she tries to get Trent’s attention and, in the meantime, bonds with the Creature (much like the original Frankenstein, the creature is never named) and fights with her stepmother who clearly has a dislike for her. From there, the film takes a wild and crazy turn, leading to several comedic scenes between its cast members. 

If there’s one thing that can be said about the story, it’s that writer Diablo Cody and director Zelda Williams are very confident in the type of film that they wanted Lisa Frankenstein to be. Its tone, even if it did not fully work, was consistent, being kind of weird, kind of wacky, and not super serious. The story, however, is where most of its faults lie. Ultimately, the fate of the film partially hinges on audience buy-in of the impact of that weirdness and wackiness through the lens of the story. While not super serious, the logic surrounding many of the decisions and ideas here don’t make a whole lot of sense if one were to think about them for too long. Some of the film’s logic doesn’t make sense on paper, but in the context of the world of the film, it certainly does. Though it did not all work, it at least works in the universe that it has created for itself.

The story itself isn’t super engaging, and most of it leans heavily on the romance aspect, which unfortunately was not without its flaws. The Creature and Lisa certainly certainly have fun scenes together, along with some tender ones, however, something about their romance never completely clicked as a romance. For whatever reason, Lisa seemed more romantically interested in Trent than the Creature. Though it could be argued that her attraction to the Creature is realized rather slowly, like a slow burn, part of it never felt convincing enough to generate any type of emotional connection. A pretty wacky and pretty weird film, that weirdness and wackiness would soon pick up, particularly by the time of its flawed second half. Though a large part of audiences will most likely enjoy the direction the film goes in that second half, going sort of bonkers and relishing in it for the remainder of the film, the plot didn’t work. Now as much as one can appreciate the tone it was trying to go for, it never cohesively came together.

That being said, there are plenty of bright spots to be had here, starting with stellar performances from its cast, particularly Sprouse in an almost exclusively a physical performance (his character has essentially no lines of dialogue) as the Creature. His performance could have been over-the-top or too exaggerated but here, he finds just the right balance. Newton continues to shine in the roles she’s given and Lisa Frankenstein is no exception, playing an introverted goth high schooler perfectly. Meanwhile, the film’s production design and overall aesthetic is arguably one of its high points, emulating the look it was going for in every facet, from the high school, to the cemetery, and to all the details in Lisa’s house. 

There are going to be audiences who will undoubtedly love Lisa Frankenstein, it is definitely a very fun and wild watch that many are sure to find enjoyable. For those who can jive with its zany second half and get on board with its romance aspect, they will most likely be treated to a very fun watch. Unfortunately, the plot of the second half really didn’t work, even as fun as it might have been, and its ending and the overall takeaway from the film became muddled. The romance aspect never worked, as Sprouse and Newton’s onscreen chemistry worked better on a platonic level than a romantic one.

All in all, while the film will certainly find its audience, those who love and can relate to the love story of its two outcasts, however, the end result was merely a mildly enjoyable time featuring a fairly weak love story. 

still courtesy of Focus Features

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Jasmine Graham