The surest way to let someone know that you’re a pedantic bore is to point out that the Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, is never referred to as “Frankenstein” in the novel. There are people in the world who delight in doing this, and they are a menace to society.
Judging from the title of their new Netflix mockocumentary, Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein, director Dan Longino and writer John Levenstein know this to be true, and they want you to know it from the moment you begin watching.
Like the monster itself, Frankenstein’s built out of multiple ideas that, when pieced together, are larger than the sum of their parts. Rather than exploring those in an overwrought, overlong epic retelling of the original story, the mockumentary instead follows Stranger Things’ father figure of the year David Harbour as he learns about his own father’s attempts at putting on a televised production of Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein, a… play.
Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein hits Netflix July 17.