It's 1957, and James Whale's heyday as the director of "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Invisible Man" is long behind him. Retired and a semi-recluse, he lives his days accompanied only by images from his past. When his dour housekeeper, Hannah, hires a handsome young gardener, the flamboyant director and simple yard man develop an unlikely friendship, which will change them forever.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.2/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.63/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Metacritic: 74
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Bill Condon
Production
Flashpoint, BBC Film, Regent Entertainment
Cast
Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, David Dukes, Kevin J. O'Connor, Mark Kiely, Jack Plotnick, Rosalind Ayres, Jack Betts, Matt McKenzie, Todd Babcock, Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy, Brandon Kleyla, Pamela Salem, Michael O'Hagan, David Millbern, Amir Aboulela, Marlon Braccia, Jesse Long
Where to watch
Here TV
Curator Review
Verdict
A thoughtful, melancholy character study that blends classic-Hollywood nostalgia with a tender queer friendship drama. Its appeal is strongest for viewers who like restrained, performance-driven period films with emotional and thematic depth.
Best for
fans of prestige dramas and biographical fiction
viewers interested in classic Hollywood and film history
audiences drawn to queer stories with adult, reflective perspective
people who appreciate strong lead performances and subdued emotional tension
Skip if
you want a fast-moving plot or big dramatic twists
you prefer strictly factual biopics over semi-fictionalized storytelling
you are looking for a light, uplifting mood
you dislike reflective period pieces centered on aging, loneliness, and mortality
Overview
Bill Condon’s film is less interested in biography as facts than biography as atmosphere: memory, regret, desire, and the afterglow of old movies. It finds a rich, haunted sadness in James Whale’s final days, using his past work as both context and emotional language. The result is elegant, intimate, and quietly devastating rather than showy.
Worth noting
Ian McKellen gives the film its gravity, balancing wit, vanity, and exhaustion with remarkable precision. Brendan Fraser brings warmth and plainspoken humanity, and their uneasy friendship gives the movie its pulse. The script is especially strong when it lets class, sexuality, and power remain unresolved and complicated.
Bottom line
What lingers most is the film’s sense of cinema looking back at itself: monsters, creators, and the people left behind by fame. It can feel a little restrained for viewers expecting broader melodrama, but that restraint is part of its power. This is a polished, mournful drama with real emotional intelligence.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Nick Mullen (3★) · 391 likes
I want an app on my phone that clips scenes from this movie but it uses Siri as an input. Like “the part where ian mckellan is talkin about his boyfriend from the trenches splayed out on some barbed wire for a week and they cut to Brendan Frazier doing some “ain’t that how it be” Aw shucks face” and then the phone just gives it to me and I can send it to people
Sam (4★) · 274 likes
Acts as both a critique of the Hollywood system and a study of the trauma and danger that lies within open homosexuality. It’s incredibly rare - hell, I can’t think of another American queer film - that is written, directed, and stars an actual gay person, so it’s surprisingly refreshing that there’s one from the 90s. Ian McKellen delivers his finest performance as the retired classic director James Whale, showcasing a stunning amalgamation of the emotional intensities and delicacies that… more Acts as both a critique of the Hollywood system and a study of the trauma and danger that lies within open homosexuality. It’s incredibly rare - hell, I can’t think of another American queer film - that is written, directed, and stars an actual gay person, so it’s surprisingly refreshing that there’s one from the 90s. Ian McKellen delivers his finest performance as the retired classic director James Whale, showcasing a stunning amalgamation of the emotional intensities and delicacies that… more
Michael Scott (4★) · 161 likes
I watch a lot of queer cinema. Probably a disproportionate amount when I come to think of it but I've noticed that not too many have made their way into my most personal films.
I'm not exactly sure why that is. It'd be easy to say that in my formative cinematic years I had yet to shake off the last remnants of my gay self loathing but I think it was more than that.
I think the hopeless romantic in… more
Angelica Jade Bastién🪼🌷 (4★) · 109 likes
I hadn’t watched this movie since I was really young. Given how my film taste has evolved and my obsessions have deepened (especially with my knowledge of Hollywood’s Golden Age) I wasn’t sure how I would respond to this film now. But during the movie night with friends that I watched this for I was really taken by the prickly emotional terrain, tremendous lead performances, and how it approached its themes. Watching an older gay man (I feel audiences don’t… more I hadn’t watched this movie since I was really young. Given how my film taste has evolved and my obsessions have deepened (especially with my knowledge of Hollywood’s Golden Age) I wasn’t sure how I would respond to this film now. But during the movie night with friends that I watched this for I was really taken by the prickly emotional terrain, tremendous lead performances, and how it approached its themes. Watching an older gay man (I feel audiences don’t… more
Josh Gillam (3★) · 108 likes
Ian McKellan stars as James Whale in Bill Condon’s period drama covering the (semi-fictionalised) last days of the iconic director, with Brendan Fraser and Lynn Redgrave making up the supporting cast.
It’s lovingly crafted by Condon, and in bringing Christopher Bram’s book to the big screen uses speculative elements to shed light on Whale’s life and career. Both he and McKellan are openly gay, so the subject provides a chance for them to openly explore themes of sexuality that weren’t… more