Guillermo del Toro’s long-gestating passion project ‘Frankenstein’ had its world premiere Saturday night at the Venice Film Festival, where the Netflix feature drew a rapturous response. The screening concluded with a 14-minute standing ovation, moving the director and his lead actor, Jacob Elordi, to tears.

Del Toro walked the red carpet at Venice’s Sala Grande alongside Elordi and fellow cast members Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer, and composer Alexandre Desplat. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and film division head Dan Lin were also in attendance, joined by former Netflix film chief Scot Stuber, who produced the project. The evening drew a host of high-profile guests, including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kaitlyn Dever, Jesse Williams, Jessica Williams, and Sofia Carson.

The film offers del Toro’s interpretation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel, centering on Victor Frankenstein (Isaac), a brilliant but arrogant scientist who reanimates a creature (Elordi) in an experiment that ultimately destroys both the creator and his creation. In a director’s statement, del Toro described the film as the culmination of a lifelong pursuit: “This film concludes a quest that started at age 7, when I saw James Whale’s Frankenstein films for the first time. I felt the jolt of recognition in that seminal moment: Gothic horror became my church, and Boris Karloff my Messiah.”

Frankenstein will open in select theaters on Oct. 17 before its global Netflix release on Nov. 7. The 82nd Venice Film Festival runs Aug. 27–Sept. 6.

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