Many people are saying the rom-com, specifically those characterized by a very specific but good-enough plot, is making a comeback. Now take that, add some blood and dismembered bodies, and you get Lisa Frankenstein, directed by Zelda Williams.
She’s not like other girls. After witnessing her mother’s death, Lisa (Kathryn Newton) has been driven into being her shy, antisocial self, and having a fascination with dead people. She’s tried and failed to fit in with the other kids at her school, but everything changes when she finally makes a friend who’s her kind of weird—he’s a corpse that’s spontaneously come back to life.
This unnamed creature (Cole Sprouse) becomes Lisa’s best friend, and they get closer over time. They work together to make his new life (and body) better. Together, they search for body parts to replace his missing pieces, and along the way he starts to return to a life like the one he had before he died. The most important changes we see, however, are in Lisa’s character.
With Lisa’s new friendship comes a whole new confidence and attitude within herself. She’s tired of being degraded by her infuriating, gaslighting stepmother. She’s tired of being looked down on at school, too nervous to talk to her crush. But now, she realizes she can take control of her own life. Lisa and the creature battle her high school drama in an outrageously gruesome way with the fun, vibrant aesthetic that comes from the 80s.
Admittedly, Lisa’s character before this shift is quite boring and unenthusiastic. It’s a purposeful choice, yes, but her lifeless attitude is sometimes annoying to watch. Despite this, it does lend itself well to her character arc. However, she never falls into the “weird girl” trope of completely butchering every social interaction. Her journey is one to find happiness by embracing her weirdness. But not weird in a way that she gives second-hand embarrassment, rather that she just comes off as certifiably insane, which is way more fun to witness.
With all its quirks and intentions, Lisa Frankenstein is a unique blend of romance and comedy and horror and coming-of-age that would make for a fun movie night with friends. Accepting the movie’s progressive absurdity greatly enhances the viewing experience!
3/5 STARS