Jacob Elordi tears up as Frankenstein earns whopping 13-minute standing ovation at Venice

Jacob Elordi couldn’t hold back the waterworks as his newest project, Frankenstein, earned a 13-minute standing ovation in Venice, making it the longest of the 2025 festival thus far.

Directed by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who is renowned for his blends of gothic fiction and horror, the upcoming sci-fi flick also stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, while Saltburn’s Elordi plays the Creature.

Early reviews have the film as one to watch when it hits cinemas for a limited run in October, and if the reaction in the theatre at Venice today is anything to go by, there’ll be plenty more flocking to stream it on Netflix come November.

Footage captured and shared by Variety shows Elordi unmistakably emotional while soaking up the rapturous applause from the audience this weekend.

He is seen hugging del Toro tightly before co-lead Isaac pulls him in and places a kiss on his cheek.

Director del Toro beams with pride, surrounded by his cast as the roaring and cheering continue for his retelling of Mary Shelley’s 1818 classic horror novel.

Reacting online, fans took to the comments on Instagram to express their excitement, clearly intrigued by the hype.

‘I CANNOT WAIT to see this film!!!! 🔥🔥🔥’, commented @tikamorgan.dance.

‘Can’t wait to watch this. Congratulations to the whole team and specially to Guillermo Del Toro. He deserves this ❤️’, added @tenchoe112_.

User @adrianloretophd also pointed out that the longest standing ovation in Venice Film Festival history was for The Room Next Door (2024), which received just under 18 minutes of applause.

Now, Frankenstein is tied for second longest with both The Brutalist (2024) and The Banshees of Inisherin (2024), which also received a 13-minute response—certainly not to be sniffed at.

The development of Frankenstein (2025) has long been a dream of del Toro’s, who said in 2007 the one project he ‘would kill to make’ would be a faithful ‘Miltonian tragedy’ version of Frankenstein.

Having begun crafting drawings and ideas in 2008, now, almost two decades later, his finished product is out in the world, with filming having taken place last year.

Of course, while true to the original tale of a skilled yet egotistical scientist bringing a monster to life in a daring, ultimately tragic experiment, the new adaptation has del Toro’s stamp on it.

As such, critics are already praising its intricate visuals and haunting storytelling.

There also certainly isn’t a shortage of compliments for Elordi and Isaac, with Metro Film Reporter Tori Brazier lauding them for powering the most ‘epic’ movie Netflix will ever make.

‘Frankenstein is as vibrant, dramatic and macabre as I expected, with deviations from the original tale which work well to support the movie as a dark study of life and death that’s better suited to the screen,’ she writes in her review.

She further details the film’s gore elements, which are presented without censorship or warning, as a note to the squeamish who might prefer to watch those scenes through fingertips.

‘The film is also unapologetic in its theatrics,’ she pens, even predicting a ‘hot Frankenstein Fall’ viral moment for Elordi, who spends much of his screentime nearly nude.

Another aspect of Elordi’s monster that’s got people talking, though, is the accent, which is perhaps not what you’re anticipating.

The Australian actor, 28, speaks with a Yorkshire twang, which he says was deliberate.

Pleased that the slight nod to the North had been acknowledged by critics so early on, Elordi explained to press today: ‘David Bradley, who plays the blind man, is from that part of the world—so when the creature learns to speak, there are little bits and bobs [in there].’

Also speaking at a Venice press conference this week, director del Toro said of his inspiration for bringing Frankenstein back to life: ‘It was a religion for me. Since I was a kid—I was raised very Catholic—I never quite understood the saints.

‘And then when I saw Boris Karloff on the screen, I understood what a saint or a messiah looked like. So I’ve been following the creature since I was a kid, and I always waited for the movie to be done in the right conditions.’

Other cast members include Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Ineson, Felix Kammerer, and Charles Dance.

Frankenstein will have a limited cinematic release from October 17 and will stream on Netflix globally from November 7.

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