82nd Venice Film Festival Kicks Off With Star-Studded Premieres and Award-Season Buzz

The 82nd annual Venice Film Festival is underway, with stars hitting the canals and a lineup of highly anticipated world premieres, including Yorgos Lanthimos’ kidnap thriller Bugonia, Noah Baumbach’s showbiz dramedy Jay Kelly, Guillermo del Toro’s lavish Frankenstein, Luca Guadagnino’s college campus thriller After the Hunt, and Benny Safdie’s UFC biopic The Smashing Machine.

Other notable entries feature works from Mona Fastvold, Kathryn Bigelow, Paolo Sorrentino, Jim Jarmusch, Park Chan-wook, Gus Van Sant, Lucrezia Martel, László Nemes, and Kaouther Ben Hania. The festival jury is headed by Alexander Payne, director of The Holdovers, Election, and Sideways. Venice continues to serve as a launchpad for awards season, preceding fall festivals in Telluride, Toronto, and New York.

Select Reviews From the Festival:

• No Other Choice (dir. Park Chan-wook): Park’s darkly comedic murder tale dazzles with controlled chaos and satirical bite, showcasing the director at his peak.

• At Work (dir. Valérie Donzelli): A perceptive French drama exploring the gig economy, anchored by Bastien Bouillon’s quietly compelling performance.

• After the Hunt (dir. Luca Guadagnino): A sexual-accusation drama reminiscent of Tár, with Julia Roberts as a scheming professor; intriguing but sometimes perplexing.

• Cover-Up (dir. Laura Poitras): A gripping portrait of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, highlighting the ongoing struggle to expose corruption.

• Jay Kelly (dir. Noah Baumbach): George Clooney plays a version of himself in a lightly diverting Hollywood drama, though the dark side of the story feels underdeveloped.

• Bugonia (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos): Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons deliver a riveting duel in Lanthimos’ topical and visionary kidnap thriller.

• Orphan (dir. László Nemes): A visually rich but narratively slow exploration of childhood trauma in 1950s Soviet-occupied Hungary.

• Memory (dir. Vladlena Sandu): A haunting, illustrated collage depicting generational trauma in war-torn Grozny, both urgent and mesmerizing.

• La Grazia (dir. Paolo Sorrentino): An understated presidential drama featuring Toni Servillo, revealing hidden depths beneath a staid exterior.

Variety will continue updating its Venice coverage with the latest reviews and highlights throughout the festival.