Lisa Frankenstein was written by Diablo Cody. If you’ve seen Juno, or one of my personal favorite feminist horror movies, Jennifer’s Body, then you know to expect catchy, stylized dialogue and themes that feel relevant.  While a bit of a jumbled mess of genre, Lisa Frankenstein manages to be entertaining and clearly takes a lot of inspiration from its source material, just in a very different way.

• Directed by: Zelda Williams
• Written by: Diablo Cody
• Starring: Kathryn Newton. Liza Soberano. Jenna Davis

Lisa is not a mad scientist. She is a traumatized teen in 1989 who has a terrible family life. She finds comfort in spending time in an old cemetery, where she idolizes the grave of a young Victorian man who died when he was struck by lightning.

After a bad night at a party, a ball of lightning hits the grave and resurrects the boy. From that point, the story becomes as much his as Lisa’s.  They are a fascinating pair.

Lisa and The Creature

Lisa is searching for acceptance and love. She just happens to be looking in all the wrong places. And, she has terrible taste in men. That’s why it’s so much fun to watch her give in to, we’ll call them bad influences.  It probably says something bad about me that I don’t feel bad about any of the people that Lisa and the creature off. Even if some of them could have been a little better developed as characters. Watching a character this abused get what she deserves is joyful.  So much so that I can almost overlook the flaws in the film.

And there a few. The blend of genres doesn’t always work as well as I want it to. It’s pretty much just a comedy. There are storylines that I feel could be more developed and a few characters that veer too much into caricature. The ending gets a little frantic, and the themes get lost a bit in all that.  Ultimately though, I had a lot of fun with Lisa Frankenstein.

The best part of the movie is the small character moments. Like, the dad missing blood under Lisa’s fingernails but hyper-focused on the Wite-Out used to paint them.  Lisa is selfish in a very age-appropriate way. It’s both endearing and hard to watch. I can remember making similar mistakes—not murder though, let me put that on record.  Katherine Newton plays it so well, and she is always amazing to watch.

MVP Taffy.

I love Diablo Cody’s characters because of their layers. Taffy is your typical self-obsessed cheerleader who also happens to want to make Lisa feel welcome in her family.  She stands up for her against her terrible mom. She’s also completely oblivious to Lisa’s point of view. It’s a wonderful depiction of a teen girl who is trying, and failing, because the task is just too big for her.

If she has one critical fumble in the movie, it’s her relationship with Michael. This is a tricky situation. Michael is the boy Lisa has a crush on, and he is a total douche. He’s not a bad guy, just a pretentious tool.  From the moment he appears on screen, he just seems like trouble.  Now I didn’t see him quite ending up the way he did, but it’s important to note that while he didn’t act in the best way, he’s not the worst.

The Worst.

I truly enjoyed watching the emotional void that is Lisa’s dad. There was so much subtle characterization packed into a few moments and light dialogue here. I think the best scene with him is at the very end. He shows the same amount of care about Taffy’s mom’s death that he did about Lisa’s. It solidifies him as just a fair-weather or weekend father. He prefers Taffy because she’s easy to parent. It’s great work from both Cody and the actor.

How Frankenstein is it?

Lisa Frankenstein takes the device of the creature to tell a story of building not just a perfect man, but a better life. Lisa doesn’t want to play God. She wants to move past the trauma of her past and find happiness, true acceptance.

There is the necessary sewing on of body parts. It is interesting that with each body part, the creature becomes less zombie and more human.  

Now, let’s talk about the ending.  This is actually a take on Frankenstein and Bride all wrapped into one. In The Bride, the movie ends with the Creature realizing that his and his Bride’s existence should not be. As abominations, they will be forever reviled as monsters. They go out in a fiery blaze, accepting the world has moved on from them

Lisa Frankenstein gives us the opposite, that anyone can find a place in the world, including undead murderers. That no matter how strange you may seem, if you can find love and acceptance, you can make a happy world.   Lisa needed someone who was truly for her in a way that even her father was not, even if she sacrifices a lot for it.

In the end, both movies are about how we approach death, just in different ways. Lisa starts her movie wanting to join the creature in death. Then she rediscovered the joy of life, albeit through questionable means.  They both get a second chance at happiness, even if they left a trail of destruction in their wake.  

Final Thoughts

How much should one person’s goals cause the suffering of others?  Lisa Frankenstein stops short of really exploring this, being satisfied with Lisa getting some kind of happy ending after all her trauma.  It’s truly a throwback to ‘80s storytelling, where movies didn’t worry so much about long-term consequences.  If you’re ok with that kind of thing, and a big fan of creepy-cute romcoms, give this one a try.