Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ with Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi receives 13-minute applause at Venice Film Festival

Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited Frankenstein finally came to life this weekend at the Venice Film Festival — and the crowd went wild. The world premiere of the Netflix-backed gothic drama, starring Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as his creature, earned a roaring 13-minute standing ovation Saturday, one of the most enthusiastic responses of the festival’s 82nd edition.

Del Toro, who has spent decades dreaming of adapting Mary Shelley’s classic, called it the project he’s been preparing his entire career for. “It’s the movie that I’ve been in training for 30 years to do,” he told The Associated Press.

Speaking in Venice, the Oscar-winning filmmaker admitted he’s experiencing a kind of “postpartum depression” now that the film is finally complete, describing it as a lavish gothic feast of sets and performances.

Isaac revealed that del Toro set the tone early on: “Before we started making ‘Frankenstein,’ Guillermo told me, ‘I’m creating this banquet for you, you just have to show up and eat.’”

The actor added, “This film feels particularly personal. I think ultimately it is about outsiders.”

Elordi, who joined the production later in the process, said he threw himself into the role of the childlike monster. “It’s a vessel that I could put every part of myself into,” he explained. “In so many ways the creature that is on screen in that movie is the purest form of myself, he’s more me than I am.”

Outside the red carpet, several hundred anti-war protesters gathered peacefully, hoping to draw attention to the ongoing war in Gaza.

Del Toro last premiered in Venice with 2017’s The Shape of Water, which went on to win the festival’s top prize before claiming the Best Picture Oscar. Netflix, which has yet to secure a Best Picture win, is placing a major bet on Frankenstein after the streamer scored its first Best Animated Feature with del Toro’s Pinocchio.

Like The Shape of Water, Frankenstein is in the running for Venice’s top award, competing against Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, and Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab. The Alexander Payne-led jury will announce winners September 6.

Netflix will release Frankenstein in theaters on October 17, before streaming it worldwide on November 7.