Del Toro's Frankenstein premieres at Venice with long ovation

Guillermo del Toro's long-gestating adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on Saturday, where it drew one of the festival's longest standing ovations and left lead actor Jacob Elordi visibly moved. The screening, held in the festival's main competition, capped a day of press events and red carpet activity for the director and a cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz and others.

Audience reaction to the film was unusually prolonged. Festival and attendee accounts put the ovation at roughly 13 minutes, with some reports describing it as nearly 15 minutes, making it the longest applause of this year’s festival. Video circulated online showed Elordi embracing del Toro and castmates before wiping his eyes and bowing to the crowd. Festival organizers have not offered an official timing; press and social media coverage recorded slight variations in reported length.

Del Toro framed the film at a midday press conference as less a tech parable than a humanist drama about imperfection and responsibility. "It is not intended as a metaphor for that," he said of artificial intelligence, adding, "I am not afraid of...