Guillermo del Toro reveals if 'Frankenstein' is cautionary tale about AI

Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein is a tale about an egotistical scientist and touches on themes of abuse of power and misuse of technology, but it's not a cautionary tale about AI.

Frankenstein stars Oscar Isaac as the scientist and Jacob Elordi as the monster he brings to life. It’s based on Mary Shelley’s novel, but del Toro has put his own spin on it.

"It’s not intended as a metaphor for that," del Toro said at the film’s official press conference on Saturday afternoon.

"We live in a time of terror and intimidation, certainly…The movie tries to show imperfect characters and the right we have to remain imperfect, and the right we have to understand each other under the most oppressive circumstances," the Pan’s Labyrinth director said.

He remarked, "I’m not afraid of artificial intelligence. I’m afraid of natural stupidity."

Reflecting on making his version of Frankenstein, he said, "I’ve been following the creature since I was kid. I waited for the movie to be done in the right conditions, both creatively in terms of achieving the scope to make it different, and to make it at a scale that you could reconstruct the whole world."

"I’m in postpartum depression," he joked, having completed the film.

When Priscilla star Elordi was asked what in society represents a monster to him, he quickly replied, "Men in suits.”

Del Toro chimed in, saying, "Very well tailored [ones]."

Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein will get a limited theatrical release on October 17, which will be followed by its move to Netflix on November 7.