In Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein drinks milk as a search for his mother’s comfort. Oscar Isaac says that after Victor’s mother dies, Victor stops growing emotionally, stays a hurt little boy, and keeps looking for her. The film’s creative team offers related readings: the milk makes Victor seem childlike, works as a personal ritual that ties him to his mother, and marks an adolescence he never leaves. These readings overlap, and none of them is presented as the only meaning.
Isaac’s own explanation
Isaac has given the most direct account of the choice. In an interview with The Independent, he explains that Victor is not written as a drinker of alcohol or a user of drugs. When Victor gets nervous or needs comfort, Isaac says, “he looks for mother’s milk.” Isaac also points out that the only woman Victor has ever seen is his mother, and that in Victor’s mind the milk extends that attachment.
Grief that never ends
In a Los Angeles Times interview published December 18, 2025, Isaac develops the idea further:
“Once his mom dies, he gets stunted. He never grows from that point on. His body grows. What he’s doing, his intellect grows, but emotionally, he stays that little boy that’s been hit in the face by his dad and rejected. And rejected by his mom because she died. It’s not rational, but that’s what it is. He’s orphaned. That’s also why mom feels so present. He’s just always looking for her. He’s always looking for her everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. The milk is just looking for her.”
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He describes the milk as a form of comfort, and he finds the choice funny in its simplicity. Victor can present himself as a victim, and his only visible indulgence is a glass of milk.
The addict comparison
Isaac’s description of his performance is more pointed. In a GQ cover story published November 10, 2025, he says:
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“Defiance was a word we used a lot—a lot of addicts, that’s one of the main things they have. Defiance against circumstances, against themselves, against their past. So the fun thing with Victor is I played him like an addict, even though the only thing you see him ingest is milk, as a way to get Mom’s milk back.”
This is a statement about how Isaac built the character, not a clinical reading of Victor. It explains why the habit plays as repetitive and compulsive while the drink itself looks harmless.
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What the creative team says
Polygon interviewed members of the film’s creative team about the milk, and Se7en.ws reported the results. Del Toro and Isaac were not available for that particular set of interviews, so the statements below come from the department heads, not from the director or the lead actor.
Dan Laustsen: innocence
Cinematographer Dan Laustsen treats Victor as a child who has not lost his innocence. “He’s still a child, and he’s still innocent because he’s drinking milk. A normal guy would drink red wine or whatever.” In his reading, milk is the visual shorthand for a man who never reached the adult world of vices, and the image works because it contrasts with how dark the rest of the film is.
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Kate Hawley: a ritual tied to his mother
Costume designer Kate Hawley describes Victor as a grown body with a child’s temperament. “He’s a manchild. He’s an angry child that’s sort of grown up. The milk is a wonderful, delicious little ongoing personal ritual. It links him directly back to his mother. I love that selfish, childlike aspect of Victor.” Her emphasis is on repetition. The milk is not a single gesture but a habit he returns to, which makes it a private link to his mother rather than a plot device.
Viewers can also watch the habit build over time. Empty milk bottles pile up outside Victor’s apartment early in the film, so the ritual is visible before the story explains it.
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Tamara Deverell: adolescence and single-mindedness
Production designer Tamara Deverell reads the milk through Victor’s development. “He was mother-obsessed. He was always a kid who never grew up, until he became a father of the Creature. So drinking milk is kind of a symbol of adolescence, of being connected to your childhood.” She adds that Victor does not drink alcohol because he is focused on becoming a scientist and doctor. For her, milk is both a sentimental crutch and a sign of how single-minded he is.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the readings fit together
The four speakers approach the same object from different angles, which is why their explanations reinforce one another rather than compete.
| Speaker | Role | What the milk signals | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oscar Isaac | Actor who plays Victor | Comfort-seeking after his mother’s death; a substitute for the mother he keeps looking for | The Independent; Los Angeles Times; GQ |
| Dan Laustsen | Cinematographer | Innocence; Victor as a child who has never adopted adult vices | Polygon interview, reported by Se7en.ws |
| Kate Hawley | Costume designer | A repeated personal ritual linked directly to his mother | Polygon interview, reported by Se7en.ws |
| Tamara Deverell | Production designer | Adolescence, unfinished childhood, and single-minded focus on science | Polygon interview, reported by Se7en.ws |
Put together, the readings describe one character. Isaac explains why Victor needs the milk, the designers explain how it looks and what it says about his development, and the performance frame explains why it seems compulsive when the drink itself is so ordinary. The shared element is Victor’s refusal to grow past his mother.
What the milk does and does not establish
- It is not a medical diagnosis. The addict comparison describes Isaac’s acting approach. No source calls Victor an addict in a clinical sense.
- It is not presented as sinister. The speakers describe milk as wholesome, sentimental, and childlike. Reading it as a sign of something dark would go beyond what they say.
- It is not confirmed as a detail from the novel. Netflix and the Associated Press identify the film as an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, as stated in the Netflix Tudum article and the AP report on the film’s production of October 14, 2025. Neither establishes that the milk motif comes from Shelley’s text. It should be understood as this film’s characterization of Victor.
- It is not the only ritual in the film. The milk stands out against the film’s darker rituals, which is why it draws attention. That contrast is a reading of the film, not a statement of authorial intent.
The most accurate short answer is the one Isaac gives: Victor drinks milk because it is the closest thing he has to his mother, and the designers and cinematographer show how that comfort makes him look like a grown man who never left childhood.
Quotations in this article are taken from the interviews linked above, and the date of each is noted where it appears.
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