Guillermo del Toro, Consequence’s 2025 Filmmaker of the Year, is at a turning point in his career. “I’m thinking about life from a different perspective,” he explains in our exclusive interview. He’s finished making his definitive take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein — one of the best films of the year — and now that he’s satisfied his need to tell stories about fathers and sons, he can move on to exploring new topics and new tools in the latter phase of his work.
He talks about all this and more in this in depth discussion, which you can watch above or via YouTube. Then, make sure to read our Filmmaker of the Year feature with del Toro here.
With Frankenstein, del Toro was able to nurture his love of practical effects in filmmaking, making sure that a vast percentage of his detail-rich adaptation featured real-life elements. It’s an approach that stands out in sharp contrast to his position on using AI, which he rejects as a creative tool. “I don’t think any artist raised their hand and said, ‘Could you get us AI?’,” he says. “If a society ends up making songs written by AI thrive, then that society, without a doubt, deserves songs written by AI.”
Del Toro recently turned 61 years old, and is very aware of what other directors have done at this point in their lives: “You can see filmmakers that just keep doing the same thing, and they can become a little more creaky,” he says, listing movies that prove surprises are still possible years after a filmmaker has made a name for themselves, such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy, or John Huston’s The Dead. “You never know what is going to pop and be interesting.”
Watch the full interview for more insight into the making of Frankenstein and where del Toro may go next in his career. Consequence’s Annual Report also includes our rankings of the best albums, songs, and TV shows of 2025, along with profiles celebrating Artists of the Year Clipse, Band of the Year Turnstile, Pop Culture Event of the Year KPop Demon Hunters, and Comedian of the Year Marc Maron.
