The 82nd Venice Film Festival, which kicks off August 27, is packed with must-see, Oscar-friendly films set to feature in the upcoming awards season.
In the main competition of the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, 21 international films will compete from August 27 for what is arguably the most prestigious film prizes in European cinema: the Golden Lion.
A-list stalwarts from Julia Roberts to George Clooney and Cate Blanchett will feature on Venice screens, while politically charged features and documentaries will also mark this year’s film gala.
Roberts makes her first-ever stroll down the Lido for Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt,” a #MeToo-inspired thriller. The Hollywood icon plays a Yale philosophy professor who’s put in a difficult position when her Ph.D. candidate and protegee (“The Bear’s” Ayo Edebiri) accuses Alma’s colleague and friend (Andrew Garfield) of sexual assault.
Another Venice newbie is professional wrestler turned action superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, appearing in a serious film (for once). He plays former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter, Mark Kerr, in “The Smashing Machine” from indie darling Benny Safdie. Emily Blunt is Kerr’s wife, Dawn Staples.
Hollywood hits Venice red carpet
Among the red carpet regulars this year is George Clooney, who is the lead in Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” the story of a famous actor traveling across Europe with his long-time manager (played by Adam Sandler) as they reflect on their legacies and life choices.
Cate Blanchett and Adam Driver, frequent Venice attendees, return this year with “Father Mother Sister Brother,” the hotly anticipated new film from independent film pioneer Jim Jarmusch.
A trio of contemporary character studies set in the US, Dublin and Paris, it follows the relationships between adult children (including Blanchett and Driver) and their somewhat distant parents, played by Tom Waits and Charlotte Rampling.
Korean film fans will get their fill with “No Other Choice”, the new crime thriller from master director Park Chan-wook (“Old Boy,” “The Handmaiden”). It stars Lee Byung-hun as a man laid off from his longtime position who ruthlessly attempts to get his job back.
Meanwhile, Emma Stone reunites with her “Poor Things” director Yorgos Lanthimos for “Bugonia,” the English-language remake of the anarchic, off-beat 2003 South Korean sci-fi film, “Save the Green Planet.”
And Australian heartthrob Jacob Elordi is also in town, boating in for Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited Frankenstein adaptation — which also features Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz.
After sitting out last year, Netflix is back on the Lido with a vengeance. Alongside Del Toro’s “Frankenstein” and Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” the streamer is rolling out the Venice red carpet for “House of Dynamite,” the first feature from female action director Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) in eight years.
The thriller is set among a group of White House officials — played by, among others, Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Greta Lee and Jared Harris — who are scrambling to deal with an incoming nuclear missile attack on the US. Apparently, Bigelow will tell the story in real time.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/venice-film-festival-to-shine-with-star-studded-lineup/a-73760072
