The Weight of Belonging- A Reflective Lens Through Frankenstein

Community building has become something of a trend, especially over the past year. The more I scroll through social media, the more events I see. While I enjoy seeing people come together, it can also feel overwhelming to be flooded with Instagram posts and WhatsApp groups promoting countless events and gatherings. 

Traditionally, communities are formed by groups of people connected through shared spaces or common interests, religion, culture, ethnicity, or values. It is in our human nature to feel a sense of belonging and companionship. When we belong to a community, we experience a connection that extends beyond ourselves, built on shared values and mutual understanding. This sense of social cohesion offers emotional support during difficult times and reassures us that our struggles are shared. It also provides a feeling of safety while helping us embrace and value our differences.

I often struggled to find a true sense of belonging, which is what led me to write about this topic. At some point, the endless gatherings, events, and social activities became draining, and finding a community that truly felt like mine became challenging. Over time, I’ve realised that there is nothing wrong with that. As an international student who moved to London four years ago, I set out to rediscover the sense of community I once had and to understand what felt missing in my life here. Like many international students, I found myself searching for “my people,” though what that means looks different for everyone. For some, it’s about shared values; for others, it’s about rediscovering fragments of what community once felt like back home. The film Frankenstein (2025) captures elements of this experience, which I will reflect on later in this article.

Image Source: Christopher Paul on Unsplash

In Madagascar, being part of a community was rooted in a shared identity, cultural background, and religious beliefs. I experienced both the positive and the negative sides of this. While I was surrounded by a large group of people with whom I shared many similarities, I often struggled to form meaningful connections. Much of the support I received wasn’t the kind I needed, and it didn’t encourage personal growth or help me become a better version of myself. Contribution often felt transactional rather than genuine. I want to be clear that this reflects my personal experience, not a collective one. So, when I moved to London a few years ago for university, I naturally hoped to find what I felt was missing. Instead, I realised that I had to start from scratch.

The positive aspects of the community I experienced back home, such as the celebration of my culture and religion, a strong sense of togetherness, close bonds, and shared experiences, looked very different here. In the beginning, it felt as though I was scavenging for something entirely unfamiliar. Later, as I began to recognise the beauty in what I had once experienced, I found myself searching for something similar in a new context.

London is home to a vast range of communities. While I can’t claim to have explored all of them-that would be impossible- I have found fragments of what I’ve been looking for in different places. Yet, despite these moments of connection, there remains a lingering sense of loneliness.

Recently, I watched a film that reflected many of these experiences, capturing both the comfort and the complexity of wanting to belong to a community, and the emotional aspect of it. 

Frankenstein (2025) is a gothic science-fiction drama inspired by Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein. The film stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature. It opens with Victor being tormented by his own creation, before unfolding through a series of flashbacks that reveal both his inner conflict and the Creature’s struggle to find identity and belonging. The film explores a cascade of powerful themes, including alienation, vengeance, love, generational trauma and emotional confrontation. However, the theme I want to highlight most is community and society’s response to someone who is simply trying to find a place where they can exist as themselves.

Image Source: Frankenstein on Netflix

In the movie, wanting to belong to a community is shown as a basic human need, but also something that can be hurtful if not found or denied. The Creature does not initially seek power or revenge; it longs to be accepted, spoken to, and connected with others. When it believes it might belong somewhere, it becomes gentler, more hopeful, and more thoughtful, learning how to adapt and care. This reflects the positive impact of community: belonging allows individuals to grow, understand right from wrong, and feel anchored in the world.

However, the movie also shows what happens when someone is constantly pushed away. The Creature is judged only by how it looks, and no community ever gives it a real chance to show its inner beauty. Being rejected over and over, turns loneliness into anger and sadness, hence his hunt for Victor to create a being just like him. Victor himself plays a crucial role in this outcome; by abandoning the Creature and refusing to offer any sense of family or belonging, he reinforces its isolation. The film makes it clear that exclusion can be just as damaging as cruelty.

Ultimately, Frankenstein suggests that the need to belong is not a weakness but a universal need. The real danger arises when communities decide who “deserves” to belong and who does not. When connection and understanding are denied, the harm extends beyond the individual, turning isolation into tragedy for everyone involved.

While my own experiences do not compare to the depth of what the Creature endures, its longing for belonging resonated with me deeply. In a society that increasingly promotes hyper-individualism, the film serves as a reminder of the importance of community. By embracing one another as we are and recognising the positive qualities that encourage growth, we move closer to creating environments where people can truly belong. Although finding community, especially across cultures and borders, can be difficult, remaining open to new faces and traditions brings us one step closer to building spaces that feel right for us.