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The Shocking Ending of Lisa Frankenstein, Explained
Find out what happens to Lisa Swallow and her Creature bestie in Lisa Frankenstein.
Spoiler warning! Spoilers for Lisa Frankenstein lurk below!
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has had myriad cinematic adaptations and interpretations since the very first Frankenstein in 1910. But there's never been an '80s based, female gaze, black comedy reimagining like screenwriter Diablo Cody and first-time director Zelda Williams' Lisa Frankenstein, a goth fairy tale, where the heroes include a murderous teen, Lisa Swallow (Kathryn Newton), and her zombie boyfriend, The Creature (Cole Sprouse).
In this retelling of The Modern Prometheus, Lisa is a misunderstood teen facing a lot of life changes. After the loss of her mother, she retracts from life and spends most of her time in a graveyard daydreaming about a Prince Charming who lives six-feet under (who's many hundred years dead). When a lightning storm electrocutes him back into a zombie-esque existence, The Creature finds the human who has been pining for him and together they figure out a way to bring him back to more life.
Per the official synopsis, "The two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness… and a few missing body parts along the way."
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What happens at the end of Lisa Frankenstein?
To say that Lisa goes unhinged in her pursuit of revenge against those she feels have maligned or underestimated her is an understatement. The final straw on her dark journey is the dismemberment of her crush, Michael Trent (Henry Eikenberry). When Lisa finds him in bed with her step-sister, Taffy (Liza Soberano), she loses her entire moral compass. Her path from dreamy romantic to violent narcissist is complete, as she goes wild with retribution. She and The Creature kill once more, and there's no turning back. And while The Creature does some dastardly things, he does it for love and his growing affection for Lisa. Ironically, he has become more human with every augmentation to his body, as he kills with abandon alongside Lisa.
Ultimately, Lisa's actions mean there's nowhere for her to go once she's murdered everyone close to her, and she ends up dead and buried in the very average part of the graveyard she used to haunt. As Taffy mourns the turn of events, she can claim the win as the last one standing after Lisa and The Creature's rampage.
Ah, but there is a twist. In the very last scene, we see an almost fully human looking Creature sitting on a bench, reading Mary Shelly's Frankenstein to a mummy-wrapped Lisa. She's obviously much worse for wear and unable to speak, but she seems to be alive, in a state much like her beau started.
We're left to wonder if she'll be able to crawl back to life in a similar fashion. When SYFY WIRE asked Cody and Williams if there are more stories to tell about the dynamic duo, they told us they have certainly had thoughts about future adventures.
"I'm cautiously optimistic when I have a movie coming out," Cody admitted. "But it would be amazing to be able to do more in this universe, because I love it."
Williams agreed, "I've certainly brought it up and joked about things because you're already talking about a world in which death isn't permanent. Even the people we lose in this movie, they don't have to be permanently gone."
Lisa Frankenstein is playing exclusively in theaters. Get tickets now!
