The 82nd Venice Film Festival opens Wednesday with all eyes on Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos, whose new sci-fi Bugonia reunites him with Emma Stone after their Oscar-winning triumph in Poor Things. Their latest collaboration, a story of a high-powered executive kidnapped by people who believe she is an alien, is among the most hotly anticipated contenders for this year’s Golden Lion.
Lanthimos is joined in competition by cinema heavyweights Guillermo del Toro, Kathryn Bigelow, Jim Jarmusch, Olivier Assayas and Paolo Sorrentino, all vying for the coveted top prize that has often served as a launchpad to Oscar glory.
The festival kicks off with Sorrentino’s Italian love story La Grazia, while del Toro offers a lavish reinterpretation of Frankenstein starring Oscar Isaac, and Bigelow returns with the tense political thriller A House of Dynamite, led by Idris Elba. Jarmusch debuts in the main competition with Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, featuring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits. Assayas presents The Wizard of the Kremlin, with Jude Law embodying a young Vladimir Putin.
Beyond the red carpet glamour, Julia Roberts makes her Venice debut in Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, while George Clooney stars in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly — politics are never far away. The Gaza war has already cast a shadow, with activist group Venice4Palestine calling for boycotts and protests. The festival, however, has stood by its role as a platform for debate, highlighting Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab, which uses real recordings from Gaza to tell the tragic story of a six-year-old girl killed earlier this year.
Venice, long a stepping stone to the Academy Awards, will also host star-driven premieres out of competition, including Benny Safdie’s wrestling drama The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and documentaries from Sofia Coppola, Laura Poitras, and Gianfranco Rosi.
This year’s jury, led by Alexander Payne, faces the daunting task of choosing among 21 main competition entries, with the Golden Lion to be announced on September 6. But for many, the story of the festival may come down to whether Lanthimos can capture Venice’s top prize and strengthen his position as one of world cinema’s most daring auteurs.
