The last name Williams is instantly recognizable in Hollywood. Zelda Williams, daughter of legendary actor Robin Williams, is relatively new to the scene, particularly in her directing career. Williams’ first feature film, “Lisa Frankenstein,” was written by Diablo Cody who also wrote “Jennifer’s Body.”
The leads of the film, Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse, show incredible potential for a new filmmaker who is set in her vision.
Summary
Lisa Swallows is a misunderstood girl in the late ’80s who is just recovering from her mother’s murder. She finds solace in a graveyard, when a bolt of lightning strikes a corpse, reanimating it and creating a bond between Lisa and The Creature. At its heart, it’s a silly romance movie with a very distinct visual style, something that more studios should allow their films to have. The story is fun, but really the style sets it over the edge. We are still in an era of ’80s throwbacks, but this movie does it differently. It is so incredibly colorful, borrowing from the other title influence, “Lisa Frank,” and the shots are so distinct they really give the film its own personality.
Identity
The movie delves into some heavy topics, including sexual assault and murder, but maintains its own identity throughout. It never feels like the tone shifts are out of place — everything that happens feels like it makes sense in the context of the film. Much like “Jennifer’s Body,” the film has very strong female characters that do bad things to people who deserve it. Seriously, if you haven’t seen “Jennifer’s Body” you are missing out, it is such a fantastic film, and “Lisa Frankenstein” really owes so much to it that you should probably just go watch both.
Performances
The performances from Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse are fantastic. Newton does a great job playing the “doesn’t quite fit in” goth girl, while Sprouse gets to showcase his physicality, as The Creature doesn’t speak. He has to communicate through gestures and body language, which he does perfectly. It never feels like a gimmick, instead, it makes sense for his character and creates a super interesting dynamic between him and Lisa. The rest of the cast is great too, but these two steal the show.
Again, if this film didn’t have the identity that it did it would just be fine. But, Williams’ vision shines through perfectly, despite this being a fairly large-budget movie from a big studio. Studios need to let their filmmakers have their way with their films instead of having some corporate suits decide what does and doesn’t work. Think of “The Northman,” one of the greatest movies, potentially ever, and it could’ve been even better if they didn’t force Robert Eggers to cut out some of the stuff that focused on Norse mythology. When a filmmaker has a vision, it is so refreshing to see that reflected in the final product. It makes the film feel so much more real, so much more interesting — especially in the current landscape where every other film is a sequel or reboot, to have a distinct vision is a blessing.
