Casting Oscar Isaac, of Latino heritage, as the traditionally white Victor Frankenstein introduces incidental diversity, but it integrates organically into del Toro's vision of a 'European story told from a Latin point of view,' with no backlash or sense of forced DEI mandates. Female roles are reduced compared to the novel, with Mia Goth playing both Victor's mother and Elizabeth, the latter slightly modernized as a science enthusiast rather than a passive ideal— a forgettable tweak lacking ideological weight.

Core themes emphasize timeless gothic concerns like parental abandonment, hubris, forgiveness, and the humanization of monsters, with added father-son dynamics and subtle critiques of war profiteering, but these feel like natural extensions of Shelley's work rather than contemporary social justice lectures. Audience reception praises the film's visuals, performances (especially Jacob Elordi's sympathetic Creature), and fidelity to the source without progressive intrusions, with multiple viewers explicitly noting the absence of woke messaging or DEI, allowing it to succeed as pure, meaningful entertainment.