The big screen adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel Poor Things has been hailed as a "masterpiece" after premiering at the Venice Film Festival.

Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos' new film received a eight-minute-long standing ovation after its world premiere at the festival on Friday.

Hollywood website Deadline called the post-screening ovation "one of the most enthusiastic responses to a film some Venice festgoers have ever seen". 

Set in the 19th century and borrowing from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Gray's Guardian Fiction Prize-winning novel centres on Bella Baxter, who is brought back to life after the brain of a fetus is placed in her skull by a scientist in late-Victorian Glasgow.

The film adaption stars Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone alongside Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Jerrod Carmichael and Ramy Youssef. 

It sees Stone reunite with filmaker Lanthimos, who directed Oscar-winning 2018 historical black comedy The Favourite.

Inverse called the movie "an absurdist masterpiece" and Lanthimos' "best and weirdest movie to date", while Indiewire noted that it "already feels like an instant classic".

Poor Things is due in UK cinemas on 12/01/2024.