Robert De Niro is usually associated with complex, dramatic characters who make or break a film. Travis Bickle makes Taxi Driver (1976) feel like a bleak nightmare, Jake LaMotta turns Raging Bull (1980) into a visceral study of redemption, and young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974) adds a grounded backstory for the iconic character.

Conversely, De Niro’s turn as the detached Louis Gara in Jackie Brown (1997) sparks divisive reactions, while his more recent outings, such as Righteous Kill (2008) and Dirty Grandpa (2016), are considered objective career lows.

De Niro has also appeared in some surprising roles, such as playing the part of the monster in Kenneth Branagh’s Gothic horror, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Shelley’s groundbreaking book has been adapted innumerable times, including a relatively recent (and wonderful) iteration by Guillermo del Toro. Branagh’s Frankenstein is rather trope-heavy, but it is a strange and harrowing interpretation that's worth watching, in part for De Niro's mournful performance. For those interested, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is waiting to be discovered, as it is currently streaming on Netflix.

The film opens with a North Pole expedition in 1794. Captain Robert Walton (Aidan Quinn) and his crew are stranded after their ship is trapped in ice, but things escalate once a cloaked man named Victor Frankenstein (Branagh) emerges and starts telling his life story. A deafening roar can be heard in the background, but the source isn’t revealed at this point in the story.

Victor relays his circumstances growing up, his background in medicine, and how he stumbled upon research about creating new life.

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