Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein was praised with an impressive 15-minute ovation at the 82nd Venice Film Festival

Frankenstein had its big reveal at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, and the thing everyone seemed to carry out of the room was the applause. It went on and on. Some said around thirteen minutes, others thought fourteen, and Deadline reckoned it was fifteen. What really mattered was the feeling in the room, the way the clapping wouldn’t stop. It went past the point of being polite, long enough to turn into a story of its own.

For Venice, it was also about seeing Guillermo del Toro walk back into a place that once gave him the Golden Lion for The Shape of Water in 2017. This time, he wasn’t revisiting an old success. He was opening something he had carried for so long, a story that sat with him year after year, finally given space to breathe in front of a festival crowd.

The premiere felt more than just another screening. Venice often gives a stage to films that later dominate conversations far beyond the Lido. Frankenstein entered the competition already carrying the aura of an event, and the crowd’s response confirmed it. The film, long discussed and often postponed, finally reached the screen in front of an audience that seemed to know it was watching something meaningful for the director.

A story that waited years

Del Toro spoke earlier in the day about how long this project had lived with him. As a child, he saw Boris Karloff as the creature, and it made sense in a way that stayed. He compared that vision to seeing something almost sacred. Since then, Frankenstein has been part of his imagination. He explained that he had to wait for the right conditions, the proper support, the right scope. Only then, he said, could the world of Victor Frankenstein and his creation be rebuilt in the way he wanted.

The applause and what it meant

At the Lido, reactions can be intense, but this one stood out above all. Audiences applauded, stood, and continued to cheer. For a story that has been retold many times, this reception showed there was still room for another version. It was not only about respecting del Toro, but also about the way this film made the old story feel new again.

The cast behind the story

The familiar outline remains: Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant yet reckless scientist, and the creature that becomes his legacy and his burden. In this adaptation, Oscar Isaac plays Victor, and Jacob Elordi is the creature. The cast expands with Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Christian Convery, Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz. With names like these, the production relied on performances as much as on visuals, lending weight to roles that revolve around the central relationship.

Frankenstein visuals and atmosphere

Early responses pointed to the style. Del Toro is known for building worlds that mix beauty with menace, and Frankenstein carried the same mark. Sets were described as tactile, gothic, heavy in atmosphere, but also capable of revealing fragility in the creature. The design did not simply recreate the novel’s darkness; it added layers to it. Some critics noted how the film balanced grandeur with an intimacy that brought out the human side of the monster.

Behind the production

Frankenstein was produced by J. Miles Dale, who has often worked with del Toro, and by Scott Stuber. The partnership with Netflix allowed the director to bring the project to life with the scale he envisioned. It was not just another adaptation, but something that had to look and feel like a fully reconstructed world. Years of waiting, sketches, and ideas finally came together to create a film that could be shown for the first time in Venice before moving on to a global stage.

Release plans

First, it will be released in a handful of theaters on October 17, 2025. Just a short run, almost like a preview, for people who want that big screen feeling. A few weeks later, on November 7, it will be available on Netflix.

Why it matters now

The Venice ovation worked like a preview of what may follow. Frankenstein carries the weight of a literary classic, the reputation of a director with Oscars and a Golden Lion, and a cast built to draw attention. Critical notes have already placed it among the most awaited titles of 2025. The story, written more than two centuries ago, has once again found a place in today’s zeitgeist.

Frankenstein in Venice was the end of a long wait for Guillermo del Toro. A tale that has lived many lives is ready to live one more, in the hands of a director who has been dreaming of it since childhood.