12 movies premiering at the Venice Film Festival to get excited about

The Venice Film Festival offers an embarrassment of auteur riches this year. The 82nd edition, which kicks off on Wednesday, has films from Guillermo del Toro, Kathryn Bigelow, Park Chan-wook, Yorgos Lanthimos, Sofia Coppola, Jim Jarmusch, Gus Van Sant and Luca Guadagnino, to name a few. Even Charlie Kaufman has a short film (“How to Shoot a Ghost”).

Depending on how they play, some in the lineup will surely be part of the Oscar conversation in the new year, as several filmmakers this year can attest from experience. In 2017, del Toro launched “The Shape of Water” at Venice, where its Golden Lion win was the first of many that awards season, culminating with a best picture and best director prize at the Academy Awards. In 2023, Lanthimos also had a charmed Venice debut for “Poor Things,” another Golden Lion winner that would get Emma Stone a best actress Oscar.

Here’s a preview of 12 films to get excited about this year.

“Bugonia” (Aug. 28, in competition)

It’s always an event when Lanthimos teams up with Stone. Described as a science-fiction black comedy and a remake of a South Korean film, “Bugonia” stars Jesse Plemons as a conspiracy-obsessed man who (along with Aidan Delbis) kidnaps Stone’s character, the CEO of a pharmaceutical group, because they believe she’s an alien. Focus Features plans a late October theatrical release.

“Jay Kelly” (Aug. 28, in competition)

Noah Baumbach takes on his own industry, and the idea that coming-of-age stories are only for the young, in “Jay Kelly,” casting George Clooney as a movie star on an introspective (and comedic) journey through Europe with his manager Ron (Adam Sandler). Baumbach cowrote the script with Emily Mortimer, who is part of the large ensemble cast including Laura Dern, Billy Crudup and Greta Gerwig. In theaters in November and on Netflix in December.

“MEGADOC” (Aug. 28, out of competition)

Another Coppola-related documentary, but this one, directed by Mike Figgis, is about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” his decades-in-the-making, self-financed epic. The film takes viewers behind the scenes of the creative process, from the rehearsal space to the set where you can be sure that Shia LaBeouf is going to speak his mind. In theaters Sept. 19.

“After the Hunt” (Aug. 29, out of competition)

Julia Roberts plays a beloved and glamorous college professor whose mentee ( Ayo Edebiri ) accuses her close friend and colleague (Andrew Garfield) of “crossing the line” in this psychosexual drama from Luca Guadagnino. The stacked cast also includes Guadagnino regulars Chloë Sevigny and Michael Stuhlbarg. Amazon MGM Studios will release it in theaters in October.

“No Other Choice” (Aug. 29, in competition)

Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s highly anticipated follow-up to “Decision to Leave” has been a long time coming. He first mentioned work on an adaptation of Donald Westlake’s novel “The Ax” in 2009. The story is about a middle-aged manager at a paper company who grows increasingly, and violently, desperate after being laid off. Lee Byung-hun and Son Yejin star. Neon has not set a release date.

“Frankenstein” (Aug. 30, in competition)

Visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s decades-long dream of adapting Mary Shelley’s classic novel, which he has said is his absolute favorite book, has come true. A master of the gothic milieu, his “Frankenstein” stars Oscar Isaac as Dr. Viktor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the monster. It’s one of the most anticipated films of the year. Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz and Charles Dance also star. “Frankenstein” is in theaters in October and streaming on Netflix in November.

“Father Mother Sister Brother” (Aug. 31, in competition)

Jim Jarmusch directs Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett and Vicky Krieps in a triptych anthology film about relationships between adult children. Jarmusch said in a statement that it’s an “anti-action film, its subtle and quiet style carefully constructed to allow small details to accumulate.” The filmmaker, a Cannes darling, was last on the Lido out of competition with “Coffee and Cigarettes” over 20 years ago. MUBI will release the film in theaters this fall.

“The Smashing Machine” (Sept. 1, in competition)

Is Dwayne Johnson destined for an Oscar nomination? His transformation into MMA and UFC fighter Mark Kerr, a champion and addict, might just be the ticket, with filmmaker Benny Safdie (who codirected “Uncut Gems”) at the helm and Emily Blunt playing his wife. A24 will release it in theaters in October.

“The Testament of Ann Lee” (Sept. 1, in competition)

Amanda Seyfried plays the founding leader of the Shakers, the 18th century religious sect, in a musical drama from filmmaker Mona Fastvold, who cowrote “The Testament of Ann Lee” with her partner Brady Corbert. Like “The Brutalist,” which Fastvold shared writing duties on, it was also shot on 70 mm film, but runs a slimmer 130 minutes. The cast includes Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson and Christopher Abbott.

“A House of Dynamite” (Sept. 2, in competition)

Not too much is known about Kathryn Bigelow’s political thriller, set inside the White House around an impending missile strike on the U.S. and starring Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson. It’s the Oscar winner’s first film since “Detroit” came out in 2017, and written by former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim, whose script for “Jackie” won the best screenplay prize at Venice in 2016. Netflix plans an October release for both streaming and theatrical.

“Marc by Sofia” (Sept. 2, out of competition)

Sofia Coppola follows in her late mother’s footsteps by directing a documentary (her first), about fashion designer Marc Jacobs. Their friendship goes back to the early 1990s in New York. It’s a relationship that goes beyond muse territory and has spawned numerous collaborations. She even wore one of his dresses when she won her first Oscar. For fashion and film fans, it’s a must-see. A24 has not set a release date.

“The Voice of Hind Rajab”(Sept. 3, in competition)

Set entirely inside the Red Crescent Society call center, Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania tells the story of the efforts to rescue the young girl Hind Rajab from her family’s shot-out car in Gaza City last January, using the real audio of her voice.

Festival head Alberto Barbera predicted that it “will be one of the films that will get the most intense response from everybody … not only political reasons but for emotional, human reasons.” The film is seeking distribution.

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