In the late nineteenth century, Captain Anderson's icebreaker ship is trapped in the frozen pack ice of the Arctic Ocean. Through a blinding snowstorm, the crew spots a dying man dragging a dog sled: Baron Victor Frankenstein. Brought aboard, a frostbitten Victor agrees to recount the harrowing tale of how his hubris led him to the literal ends of the earth. Flashbacks reveal Victor as a brilliant medical prodigy haunted by the sudden death of his beloved mother. Convinced that modern science and galvanism can overcome human mortality, Victor isolates himself in an abandoned tower laboratory in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. Robbing graves and dissecting corpses with the secret backing of corrupt aristocrats, Victor stitches together human tissues, animal organs, and an iron framework to construct an artificial man. During a violent lightning storm, Victor channels thousands of volts of electrical current into the harness. The corpse twitches, breathes, and opens its eyes: the Creature is born. But the moment the raw, stitched reality of what he has done sinks in, Victor recoils in absolute horror and disgust. He abandons his creation to die in the cold night. Abandoned and confused, the Creature escapes into the wilderness. He learns to speak, read, and feel compassion after secretly observing a blind hermit in the forest. But whenever he shows himself to normal villagers, he is met with savage gunfire and torches. Realizing that humanity will never accept him, the Creature's gentle heart turns to cold vengeance. He tracks Victor down to his family estate, demanding that Victor construct a female companion for him or face the total destruction of everyone he loves.

Victor initially agrees to build a female companion to save his fiancée Elizabeth. However, as the female body lies on the operating table, Victor realizes he cannot risk spawning a new race of immortal beings that might overwhelm humanity. In a frenzy of panic and moral terror, Victor destroys the female body before bringing it to life. Enraged by this ultimate betrayal, the Creature carries out his grim promise. On Victor and Elizabeth's wedding night, the Creature slips into the bridal chamber, snaps Elizabeth's neck, and vanishes into the storm. A broken Victor vows to hunt the monster across continents, eventually leading to their final confrontation in the frozen Arctic wasteland. Aboard the icebound ship, Victor succumbs to exhaustion and hypothermia, dying in peace as he begs forgiveness for his sins. As the ship crew watches in silence, the Creature climbs through the cabin window and weeps openly over the body of his dead creator. Having lost the only person tethering him to the earth, the Creature gently lifts Victor's frozen corpse into his arms and walks away into the vast, unending Arctic blizzards to build a funeral pyre, finally finding peace in eternal silence.