The SAG-AFTRA strike is still in effect when the 80th Venice Film Festival gets underway, so there won’t be as many eye-catching red carpet pranks or prominent celebrities visiting the Lido. It will take place from August 30 to September 9, 2023, and is still one of the most significant and renowned film festivals in the world. Here are 10 choices that we can’t wait to watch, given the amazing selection of international films on the schedule this year.
1. Stolen
This 90-minute film, which will be shown in the World Premiere section, is India’s only submission to the Venice Film Festival this year. The suspenseful story of a five-month-old infant being kidnapped from her mother, an impoverished lady named Jhumpa Mahato, is told in the Abhishek Banerjee film Stolen. It is helmed by upcoming director Karan Tejpal.
2. The Killer
With this psychological action thriller starring Michael Fassbender as a travelling hitman who worries he’s going crazy the longer he waits for his next target, David Fincher shows signs of returning to form. The Killer, starring Charles Parnell and Tilda Swinton, is based on the French graphic novel series by Alexis Nolent and was written by screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker. The cast members of Seven and Fight Club should be happy.
3. Priscilla
If you believed that Austin Butler’s portrayal of Elvis in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic last year was the ultimate look at the King of Rock and Roll, then wait till Sofia Coppola disproves that notion with her film Priscilla, which stars Jacob Elordi as Elvis.
4. Evil Does Not Exist
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s upcoming work, which subtly made an appearance this year in the main competition roster, is shrouded in secrecy. Drive My Car, the last film by the Japanese filmmaker, won the Cannes Film Festival a few years ago and went on to win an Oscar. In the novel Evil Does Nor Exist Anymore, a large Tokyo firm plots to construct camping facilities close to the town where the protagonist lives. However, the locals are not prepared to abandon their homes so quickly.
5. Origin
By being the first Black woman to ever be chosen for the Venice Film Festival’s Official Competition and vying for the top prize, the Golden Lion, Ava DuVernay has already created history. With its focus on racism and class, the 2020 best-seller Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson features Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Wilkerson and Jon Bernthal as her husband Brett.
6. El Conde
After a number of his psychological dramas, like Jackie and Spencer, Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larran is back at the Lido with El Conde, a black comedy horror movie that is expected to be released soon. Director concentrates on Augusto Pinochet, a military leader in Chile who led a coup against President Salvador Allende.
7. Maestro
The nine-time nominee makes a comeback to write and helm the much awaited biopic Maestro, portraying renowned conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. Felicia Montealegre, who plays him, is portrayed by Carey Mulligan.
8. Poor Things
The strange science-fantasy film, which is based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Grey, is directed by the Greek auteur in collaboration with Emma Stone of The Favourite. Willem Dafoe’s character, Dr. Godwin Baxter, an unconventional scientist, revives Stone’s character, Bella Baxter. On this one, there are very high expectations!
9. The Beast
Despite Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux)’s desire to be emotionally free, she eventually meets Louis (George MacKay), and their whirlwind romance threatens to blow everything out of control. The Beast, a loose adaptation of Henry James’ well-known story, has writer-director Bertrand Bonello broaden the character’s setting from the Paris floods of 1910 to the year 2044.
10. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Just a few months have passed since the release of this year’s Asteroid City, which had a successful Cannes debut. Wes Anderson is back. The wacky director attempts an adaptation of the Roald Dahl short story in the short film, which had its world premiere outside of competition at Venice. The cast also features Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Rupert Friend, Richard Ayoade, Benedict Cumberbatch as Henry Sugar, and Ralph Fiennes as Roald Dahl.
