After a lazy summer of dolce far niente, we’re slowly starting to get back to our ‘normal’ day-to-day. It’s a downer, I know, but it also has a silver lining: cultural activities (beyond music festivals, of course) are back, back, back again! One of the most celebrated and internationally renowned is the Venice International Film Festival, organised by La Biennale, which will take over the dreamy Italian city from August 28th to September 7th. And this year’s line-up isn’t short of iconic: from actresses like Tilda Swinton, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Winona Ryder, and Monica Bellucci, to filmmakers like Pedro Almodóvar, Luca Guadagnino, Pablo Larraín, Takeshi Kitano, Harmony Korine, or Todd Phillips, it promises to offer some of the best in show.
The frenzy is about to start. The prestigious festival awards the coveted Golden Lion to one of the films in the official competition (this year, there are twenty-one movies competing), and it’s also an opportunity to foresee the most awaited movies of the upcoming months. However, we can also find films outside of the competition as well as other jewels like like Alfonso Cuarón’s TV series Disclaimer, starring Cate Blanchett, or Alice Rohrwacher’s short film Allégorie Citadine (since La chimera, we can’t stop thinking about her and her talent). But there’s too much to cover, so to make things easy, we’ve selected ten films you don’t want to miss.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, by Tim Burton
While it certainly gets tiring to see Hollywood studios try the same formula again and again, doing remakes, live actions or second parts (that nobody asked for) that are commercially successful but offer little to no artistic inspiration, we’re pretty excited about Tim Burton’s new film. To see Michael Keaton again as Beetlejuice, a grown-up Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), or new family incorporations like Monica Bellucci and Burton’s new protegée, Jenna Ortega, is enough to make us drool. Oh, and it’s good enough for the festival too because it’s the opening film. Goths are back, baby!
Queer, by Luca Guadagnino
Another Guadagnino film means another queer romance to fall head over heels for. This time, it’s actors Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey who fall deeply in love in Mexico City, where they meet after one of them escapes the United States to avoid the anti-drug-dealing raids in New Orleans. Expect drama, obsession, adventure, and lots of (sexual) tension.
María, by Pablo Larraín
The Chilean director loves to delve into the lives of world-famous characters, especially female. In previous films like Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021), he made it apparent that he has a unique way to explore their psyche. We expect that (and more) from his latest movie starring Angelina Jolie, who steps into Maria Callas’ shoes to explore her last years of life in Paris.
The Room Next Door, by Pedro Almodóvar
What an incredible way for the Spanish director to jump into his first English-speaking feature film. Starring powerhouses Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, Pedro Amodóvar’s new movie once again delves into the lives of powerful women and their intricate, complex relationships. This time, Swinton and Moore become Martha and Ingrid, a couple of very good friends in their youth who, after working in the same magazine, took different professional paths: one became a published self-fiction author while the other, a war journalist. After many years without seeing each other, they meet in an extreme situation.
Babygirl, by Halina Reijn
With a small but stellar cast composed of Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, and Antonio Banderas, this film touches upon topics of secrecy, infidelity, prejudice, risk, abuse of power, and more. In it, Nicole embodies a successful company director who has a secret and steamy sexual affair with her young, hot intern (Dickinson) while keeping her husband (Banderas) in the dark. Human Resources is about to call you in, Nicole… Get ready for some action.
Joker: Folie à Deux, by Todd Phillips
Back in April, the world stopped when Warner Bros. Pictures released the first teaser of the film, and it stopped again in late July when the official trailer dropped. Joaquim Phoenix is ready to take over the big screen again with his magnificent interpretation of the Joker, one of Batman’s worst nightmares. This time, singer and actress Lady Gaga is joining him as another deranged villain who falls in love with him, creating the perfect delulu romance of the century.
Baby Invasion, by Harmony Korine
Harmony Korine is known for his risk-taking approach. From Gummo (1997) to Spring Breakers (2012) and The Beach Bum (2019), one thing is for sure: he’s here to surprise the audience and even provoke. In his latest movie, which he describes as an “interactive thriller,” the American filmmaker focuses on home invaders but shot from the perspective of a first-person shooter, very in vogue with today’s obsession with video games like Call of Duty. And the ‘baby’ in the title refers to the faces of the invaders, which have been treated with AI technology to make them look like newborns.
One to One: John & Yoko, by Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards
John Lennon and Yoko Ono are hands down one of the most important, trailblazing couples in contemporary history. From their fight against the war and imperialism to their groundbreaking musical and artistic practice, it’s hard to imagine our world today without their input. Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdoland is set to delve into their relationship through The One to One Concerts, Lennon’s only full-length performances after The Beatles, accompanied by Yoko Ono (and others). The documentary is set in 1972 and features newly transferred and restored footage, as well as a wealth of previously unseen and unheard personal archives, such as phone calls and home movies recorded and filmed by John and Yoko themselves.
Cloud, by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Cyberbullying, hate speech, and the consequences of our digital footprint converge in the new horror film by Japanese veteran Kiyoshi Kurosawa. There’s not much information around it, but so far we know that in Cloud, Ryosuke Yoshii is dragged into a desperate struggle that risks his life after earning grudges by people around him. We also know it's one of three brand new movies by the prolific director, set to release between late 2024 and early 2025.
Leurs Enfants Après Eux, by Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma
Based on the eponymous novel by Nicolas Mathieu, this is a coming-of-age film exploring the in-between spaces: teenage years vs adulthood, rural vs urban, love vs friendship. After the warm welcome of the book, which earned the coveted Goncourt Prize in 2018, directors Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma set to adapt it to the big screen.