TL;DR – Absurdist and silly, and while the mockumentary is fun at the start it does feel like it never quite came together.     

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene

Review –

Well let me tell you a story, we have a famous actor creating a mockumentary of a fictional ancestor that he also plays, and we are going to jump back and forth between him finding out things today and a pretend performance of a televised play in the 60s. This is a truly bonkers scenario, but that is the one we have with us today as we explore Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein.

The mockumentary genre is one that gets used quite often but usually as a cover for a low budget. They can come in many styles like found-footage often used in horror films like the infamous Blair Witch Project or the pretend in-house documentary, for example, Park and Recreations. Here we have a show that is kind of a blend of the both. We get the interview style mockumentary with a camera following the dialogue from person to person, also with a little dash of America’s Most Wanted to be thrown in for good measure. While the other half is a found footage style recording of the lost television play. The cutting between the two is where the film really finds its absurdist heart and you can’t help but be charmed by the pitch-perfect recreation of television theatre film hybrid.

As well as the style, there is also the commitment of the actors to really go for the different roles that they have been given. The foremost of this is, of course, David Harbour who has to both play a fictional version of himself and then his fictional father who is also playing a role, and then also pretending to be someone else, insert your Inception noise cues here. However, while the acting is really good, and the setting is a blast, I expected there to be something else, something a little deeper, but it never really came.

In the end, do we recommend Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein? Yes, I think we would. While it never quite comes together, it was a fun ride throughout, and with it only being half an hour-long, it does not outstay its welcome.         

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein
Directed by – Daniel Gray Longino
Written by – John Levenstein
Music by – Michael Penn
Cinematography by – Carl Herse
Edited by – Santiago Pedroza
Production/Distribution Companies – Netflix
Starring – David Harbour, Kate Berlant, O-Lan Jones, Heather Lawless, Michael Lerner, Alfred Molina, Alex Ozerov, Lidia Porto, Marion Van Cuyck & Mary Woronov      
Rating – Australia: M;