The Venice Film Festival kicks off later this week, and we will once again be graced with the best of what the famed Italian festival has selected. One of the top films of last year, Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, a haunting story about an architect and Holocaust survivor, earned three Oscars, including a Best Actor win for star Adrien Brody. Additionally, the long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was one of the busiest entries, and it “made good” not just on its Certified Fresh bona fides but also in box office success.
Venice Premieres Babygirl and I’m Still Here also found relative success with audiences and with critics, and though we are still salty about Nicole Kidman’s tragic Oscar Snub, thankfully Fernanda Torres did earn a nom. It’s anyone’s guess if this year’s batch of films will be able to replicate the success of Tim Burton (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) or Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) in the creative realm, but we have high hopes. Either way, we will be on hand in Venice, recapping all the top movies, red carpets, premieres, standing ovations, and everything in between.
Be sure to check out our Awards Tour hub, where we break down all the action as we head back into festival season. There are more than a few titles that have been anxiously anticipated and buzzed about, so read on for our picks for the most talked-about titles of the Venice Film Festival.
Bugonia
Up first, we have Bugonia, a black comedy that reunites Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, continuing an absolutely generational run of critical and commercial success. Although Kinds of Kindness was not a major Oscar contender, it was well-received and performed well commercially. This time around, Lanthimos is adapting the Korean sci-fi dark comedy, Save the Green Planet. If you do not want to be spoiled by the record-scratching premise, it is best to avoid looking too deeply into the source material. An early trailer has already intrigued fans of the original are curious about how they will bring Western sentiments to this very Korean tale.
After the Hunt
Another hot title at Venice this year is Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt. Following a slightly mixed reception for Queer, we hope the Italian director finds a bit of a rebound with this taut thriller starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri. From what we can glean from the trailer, the film appears to reframe the #MeToo movement in an interesting way. In it, a college professor is forced to reckon with her past after serious allegations are leveled against a close colleague. The film also features Chloë Sevigny and Call Me By Your Name scene stealer Michael Stuhlbarg, and Guadagnino also once again teams with frequent collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on the score.
Frankenstein
Depending on how you look at it, gothically obsessed writer-director Guillermo del Toro has been adapting Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in one way or another throughout his entire career. The idea that he is finally creating a direct feature film adaptation of the sacred text feels like a pivotal moment destined to be extraordinary. Add two of the internet’s current obsessions (Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac), and the mathematical likelihood of this group producing anything less than the pinnacle of our Gothic horror dreams seem impossible. We will be breathlessly waiting to see what seductive and monstrous imagery del Toro has in store. Needless to say, Crimson Peak fans (aka me!) will have much to celebrate.
The Smashing Machine
Next, we have Benny Safdie’s first solo effort, The Smashing Machine, which chronicles the life of mixed martial artist and UFC champion Mark Kerr. The film is the talk of the festival because it is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s first dramatic indie project in nearly a decade. He stars alongside his Jungle Cruise co-star Emily Blunt, who plays Dawn Staples, Kerr’s longtime love interest. The trailer already set the internet alight, as it features extraordinary prosthetic work, continuing the trend of award-worthy transformations. Anticipation is high not only because this marks Johnson’s return to dramatic acting, but also because it’s Benny Safdie’s first directorial project without his brother Josh, who will also be on the awards circuit this year with his A24-produced feature Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet. It will be fascinating to watch the brothers both compete and support each other throughout the season.
No Other Choice
And we must rejoice, for the Handmaidens have returned with No Other Choice. The long-gestating project from famed Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) is finally finished. Announced back in 2009, it is a loose remake of the 2005 film The Ax. Park has described the project as an exploration of heightened moral dilemmas, centering on a middle-aged man who loses his job and struggles to provide for his family, ultimately becoming a serial killer. Park thrives in broad, genre-mashing combinations like this, and expectations are high for another layered, provocative thriller.
Silent Friend
Next is Silent Friend, directed by Ildikó Enyedi. The film marks one of the most noteworthy pairings in international cinema as Chinese megastar Tony Leung will appear alongside the incomparable French actress Léa Seydoux. The film unfolds as an anthology of loosely connected stories set in 1908, 1972, and 2020. While it is unlikely that Seydoux and Leung share MUCH screen time, the sheer caliber of the cast makes this a ridiculously exciting entry.
The Testament of Ann Lee
One year after debuting The Brutalist, Brady Corbet also returns to Venice with The Testament of Ann Lee, co-written with his wife Mona Fastvold, who directs this time around. The film stars Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Abbott, Lewis Pullman, and Thomasin McKenzie. It is a religious historical drama chronicling the life of Shaker leader Ann Lee, a self-proclaimed female Christ, and her efforts to establish a utopian society of song and dance. The film adopts a more fatalistic approach to historical storytelling and is expected to garner major Oscar buzz for Seyfried.
Jay Kelly
Our next pick is Jay Kelly, Netflix’s A-list awards vehicle. Starring George Clooney, Jay Kelly is a slightly — if not overtly — meta take on the lives of those making it. In it, we follow Clooney as an aging actor preparing to be honored at a film festival alongside Ron, his devoted manager, played by Adam Sandler. Along the way, Clooney’s character reckons with his life, misdeeds, and loneliness, in what is assumed to be a partially autobiographical story about writer-director Noah Baumbach. Many of Baumbach’s usual collaborators return, including Laura Dern and his wife, Greta Gerwig. This film will certainly spark conversations in both Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor categories, and we will be present on premiere night to judge if it could bring Clooney his next Oscar.
The Venice International Film Festival runs from August 27 to September 6.
Thumbnail image by Ken Woroner / Netflix
