It took a minute for Diablo Cody‘s retelling of the classic monster tale with a teen-film sensibility to fully work its ghoulish magic on me. As Lisa Frankenstein started, debut feature director Zelda Williams’s pedestrian approach to the material felt pretty uninspired without a clear perspective of its own. I felt as though the film was banking on getting by with the lowest-hanging fruit in terms of audience nostalgia.
Lisa Frankenstein Is Another Winning Script From Diablo Cody
I was a fool to doubt Cody’s creative intentions, whose scripts for the Oscar-winning Juno, Young Adult, and more appropriately, Jennifer’s Body are on regular rotation in my household. The familiar story gradually became more subversive, whimsical, and engaging. Somewhere around the midway point, its off-kilter charms burrowed deep into my heart.
The Recommendation
I’m SHOCKED this squeaked by with a PG-13 rating as some of the dialogue and the gags teetered on hard-R territory (but good on them for getting away with it). There is a notable affection for the gothic camp aesthetic of the 80s and 90s, more than a few nods to early Tim Burton, a sick soundtrack, and a winning duo of lead performances from Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse. It is a slight, but effective return to form for Cody, showcasing her unique brand of idiosyncrasies with a splash of feminist social commentary. I dug it (six feet under).
