Oscar winner Guillermo Del Toro‘s directorial Frankenstein, which had its premiere at the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, received a standing ovation for 13 minutes. The film was screened at the ongoing festival on Saturday. It also recorded the longest standing ovation at the festival. (Also read: Julia Roberts wipes away tears after her film After the Hunt gets a 6-minute standing ovation at Venice Film Festival)

Frankenstein wows Venice

During the ovation, Del Toro waved to the crowd and shared multiple hugs with the leads. Jacob Elordi and Oscar Issac also shed some tears while hugging each other, according to Variety.

Frankenstein is an adaptation of the 1818 classic by Mary Shelley. In the film, Oscar Issac plays the unorthodox scientist while Jacob Elordi gives life to the scientist’s deadly creation. Jacob’s performance received unanimous acclaim by the critics after the premiere of the film.

About the film

The gothic science fiction is competing for the Golden Lion. Del Toro had also previously won this award in 2017 for his film “The Shape of Water”. Speaking to journalists, Del Toro said, “Mary Shelley’s novel asks: what does it mean to be human? My movie tries to show imperfect characters and defend our right to remain imperfect.”

The film’s premiere will be followed by a limited theatrical release on October 17 and a global release by Netflix on November 7.

The film’s official logline reads, “A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.”

The film also stars Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Christian Convery, Charles Dance and Christoph Waltz and is produced by Del Toro produced alongside J Miles Dale and Scott Stuber.