Chimera Notes

Guys! I think I figured it out!

I'm not saying that I'm right but here's my theory:

So there's been a lot of discourse regarding why this shot is reversed. We all assume (probably correctly) that Guillermo Del Toro is too smart for this to be a mistake. It ate at me too but I didn't have a theory. Until now.

Last night I saw a user on here make a post about the use of mirrors in the film. So I watched the movie again tonight and paid particular attention to the use of mirrors, making sure to notice the scenes, and stories and characters, and the general themes at the times they were used.

And it started to remind me of something.

I started thinking about The Last Jedi. About how that film tackled perception and that part of its focus was on how perception can shape us and our beliefs.

So here's my theory on the use of mirrors and the reversed image at the end of Frankenstein:

All through the movie we are seeing the Creature through the perception of others, for good and for bad. Even when we are in the Creature's Tale we are still seeing how others see him, and we are seeing his assumptions about others. His story isn't just about revenge and about seeking love. It's also about knowing who he is. And this isn't just literal. It goes beyond him learning he's made from corpses. It's the most fundamental existential question we all have: Who am I and why am I here?

At the end of the film his vengeance is spent. He has made peace with his creator. He walks out to the sun and embraces its warmth. For the first time as his OWN person. Free from the perception of others.

Firstly, in Victor's Tale, when Victor is shaving the Creature's head and he keeps looking at the mirror - that's the first time the Creature is seeing himself (timestamp 1:08:57). So, in his own perception, that is how his own face looks, with the three forehead scars diverging from the scar on the right temple rather than the left (as is in reality).

You can zoom in and see him looking at himself, studying himself, with wonder. Victor already seems frustrated, and is constantly forcing him to orient his head in a specific way, which means that the Creature has been trying to study the image in the mirror repeatedly. So we can conclude that he has formed his self-image in his head, and this is how he looks to himself in his mind.

Sidebar: in the original novel, the 1818 version**, when the Creature first looks at himself, it's in a river, and he is repulsed by his own reflection:

"I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers—their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions: but how was I terrified, when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification. Alas! I did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity." (Shelley 104-5)

Here, the Creature looks at himself for the first time, and because he already has knowledge of humanity, he is repulsed; his self-image in his mind, how he saw himself in his mind's eye, does not match the reflection he is seeing, and so he is repulsed by himself. This is in contrast to del Toro's version, where the Creature is 'brought up' (for a small time) by Victor and is discovering himself without any such repulsions. So, his own self-image in his mind, informed by his reflection in the mirror, is normalized (as far as it can be; it's not as huge of a shock as it is in the book).

Secondly, in Creature's Tale, when he escapes from the tower and enters the forest for the first time, the shot is flipped. This is the first time shot-flipping happens (the second and only other time we see a flipped shot is at the very end, the screenshot op attached above). The timestamps are: 1:31:05-1:31:48.

As you can see in the screenshots, the scars are flipped. Nowhere else in the movie does this flipping happen again (except at the end). This is the first time the Creature is exploring the world on his own, and it is him telling the story here, with no one else present to perceive or see him. So, in his own telling of the story, because in these parts, no one else is present, we are seeing the scenes from the Creature's POV only (basically we are seeing his narrativised memories), and because in his mind, he is exactly as the mirror shows him, the image is flipped*. When he picks up the skull and compares it to himself, then too we are seeing as he sees himself.

As op wrote:

"Even when we are in the Creature's Tale, we are still seeing him how others see him..."

In isolation, unburdened by others' perception of him, or their characterization of him as a monster, this is how the Creature sees himself moving through the world. When any other individual (human or animal) is present, the narrative shifts to an omniscient camera, and we see the Creature as he is in reality (within the story's world), but in these two scenes, when he is completely alone, the narrative is from his own POV, and we see the flipped scars (a counterargument could be his escape scene from the tower, where also he is totally alone, but there we can argue that it's the omniscient camera operating and not subjective camera).

So, the final shot of the film being this flipped image of the Creature is as he is seeing himself, standing before the sun, free and forgiven, now able to be who he wants to be, unperceived or uninfluenced by any other individual's perception.

Here's further analysis (see: convoluted overanalysis) of the filmmaking/narrative technique, and more on the omniscient and subjective camera, under the cut. You can skip this, I'm just rambling atp.

Thank you so much @orneltec! This was such great insight! And what a good catch. I hadn't even noticed the flip in the forest scene.

Perhaps I can convince you slightly above 40%. I went and watched again tonight after reading your analysis and I had another thought!

What is the creature doing in the forest when the scar is flipped? He is observing a human skull. And despite his lack of language he shows clear signs of understanding what he is looking at. You can see him flex his mouth to match the skull. I feel that this is perhaps his first spark into understanding himself as an entity, as something of nature, something beyond being just a receptacle for Victor's anger and frustration. It differs from mimicking the Medusa's mouth because there Victor was trying to control him. Here, he is free to wonder.

Or. It's a mistake. But as you said, it's fun to think about. :)

O child of midnight’s mournful art,

Born from the grave, yet bound to part,

Your visage wrought of sorrow’s flame,

Yet in your eyes - no curse, no shame.

I see the tremor of your hand,

A soul unclaimed by God or land,

A heart that beats though stitched in fear,

Still longs for love, still draws me near.

The world recoils, it calls you vile,

Yet I behold a gentler smile,

A titan framed in grief’s attire,

But kindled still by secret fire.

Would I could press my lips to clay,

And breathe the dawn into your day,

To teach the stars to bend and weep,

That you might dream, that you might sleep.

No fiend, no monster, but my own,

A wanderer carved from flesh and bone,

And though the heavens curse your birth,

I name you love, I grant you worth.

I tried to play the OST from “Frankenstein”(2025)

From “Awakening”