Meet the characters of “Lisa Frankenstein,” starring Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse and Liza Soberano, your pre-Valentine’s movie, in cinemas Feb. 7

Lisa Frankenstein director Zelda Williams says that her enthusiasm for the film was rooted in her deep admiration for Diablo Cody’s singular voice as a screenwriter, especially when it comes to the characters in her stories. 

“The thing I enjoy most about her writing is the personality infused into all of it,” says Williams, who had auditioned for Juno (also written by Cody, for which she won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award) very early in her acting career. “It’s clear immediately who these characters are, whether they’re for you or not. That sort of strong flavor choice will always be my cup of tea.”

In Lisa Frankenstein, it’s 1989 and Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton), an awkward 17-year-old, is trying to adjust to a new school and a new life after her mother’s death and her father’s hasty remarriage. Despite the unwavering support offered by her plucky cheerleader step sister Taffy (Liza Soberano), Lisa only finds solace in the abandoned cemetery near her house, where she tends to the grave of a young man who died in 1837 – and whose corpse she unwittingly reanimates (Cole Sprouse). Feeling obligated to help the poor soul regain his humanity, Lisa embarks on a quest to breathe new life into her long-dead new companion. All she needs to succeed are some freshly harvested body parts and Taffy’s broken tanning bed.