Venice Film Festival Lineup: Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein,’ Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Bugonia’ With Emma Stone, Benny Safdie’s ‘Smashing Machine,’ Luca Guadagnino’s ‘After the Hunt’ and More
By Nick Vivarelli, Ellise Shafer
July 22, 2025
Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera has unveiled a rich mix of buzzy movies with big stars — as well as smaller titles with awards potential — that will be vying for the Golden Lion during the event’s upcoming 82nd edition.
Hotly anticipated new works from Kathryn Bigelow, Guillermo Del Toro, Noah Baumbach, Mona Fastvold, Luca Guadagnino, Yorgos Lanthimos, Olivier Assayas, Park Chan-wook, Benny Safdie and more are set for Lido launches, making for a cornucopia of cinematic offerings.
As anticipated by Variety, big-name films premiering at Venice include Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine” from A24, featuring Dwayne Johnson as two-time UFC heavyweight champ Mark Kerr and Emily Blunt as his wife Dawn; Focus Features’ “Bugonia,” the latest collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, who were last at the fest in 2023 with the Oscar-winning “Poor Things”; and Luca Guadagnino’s psychological drama “After the Hunt” starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri. Guadagnino’s latest feature film, which hails from Amazon MGM Studios, is in an out-of-competition slot.
Barbera noted that it has been Guadagnino and Amazon/MGM’s choice to launch out-of-competition and proudly pointed out that “After the Hunt” will mark the first time for Julia Roberts on the Venice red carpet. “We will be welcoming her with great pleasure,” he said.
Mona Fastvold’s “The Testament of Ann Lee,” starring Amanda Seyfried as the titular founding leader of the Shaker Movement who was proclaimed as the female Christ by her followers, will bow in competition. The indie film, inspired by real events, was co-written by Fastvold and her partner Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”).
Netflix – as has been the case in the past – will have a robust Venice presence with a trio of high-profile movies, all in competition.
The streaming giant’s Lido launches comprise Kathryn Bigelow’s politically charged “A House of Dynamite,” marking Bigelow’s first time behind the camera since 2017’s “Detroit.” Set during a fictional national security crisis at the White House, “House of Dynamite” stars Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Greta Lee, Gabriel Basso and Jared Harris.
Then there is Noah Baumbach’s comedy-drama “Jay Kelly” co-written with Emily Mortimer and starring George Clooney “who plays a successful actor going through an identity crisis,” said Barbera, as its titular character, and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” a new take on the classic monster movie with Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth. They are all Netflix original films.
But when it comes to streamers making a splash on the Lido, this year’s big novelty is repped by expanding arthouse platform Mubi.
Mubi has the fest’s previously announced opener, Paolo Sorrentino’s love story “La Grazia,” which re-teams the Oscar-winning Italian director with “The Great Beauty” actor Toni Servillo. The specialty streamer is also on the Lido with Jim Jarmusch triptych film “Father Mother Sister Brother,” which stars Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver and Charlotte Rampling. Mubi also has South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook’s 12th feature “No Other Choice,” marking 20 years since his “Lady Vengeance” made a major splash on the Lido. Neon has North American distribution rights.
Also launching in the Lido competition from Asia are “The Sun Rises on Us All” by veteran auteur Can Shangjun, who won the Silver Lion for best director at Venice in 2011 with “People Mountain People Sea,” and “Girl,” the directorial debut of Taiwanese superstar Shu Qi, a frequent Hou Hsiao-hsien collaborator.
Standout out-of-competition titles incude Julian Schnabel’s star-studded crime mystery “In The Hand of Dante,” with an ensemble cast comprising Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler and Martin Scorsese (who plays Dante Alighieri’s mentor); Gus Van Sant’s hostage thriller “Dead Man’s Wire” with Bill Skarsgård, Colman Domingo, Dacre Montgomery and Al Pacino; Sofia Coppola’s documentary tribute to fashion designer Marc Jacobs “Marc by Sophia”; Werner Herzog’s doc “Ghost Elephants,” which follows a mysterious herd of elephants in the jungles of Angola; and Lucrezia Martel’s “Nuestra Tierra,” about the murder of indigenous activist Javier Chocobar.
Noting that Schnabel’s film had been held up in a dispute with producers over its 150 minute length, Barbera pointed out that the majority of films at Venice this year, with only one exception, “last between 2 hours and 15 minutes and 2 hours and 30 minutes,” he said
“This seems to have become the new international production standard,” Barbera added. “It’s a bit worrying, let me tell you, even for festival programmers because cramming all these movies in our programming calendar is becoming problematic. But we will figure it out.”
Leading the crème de la crème French contingent in competition are two major auteurs backed by Gaumont. The venerable French studio will premiere Olivier Assayas’ big-budget political thriller “The Wizard of the Kremlin” which explores the rise of Vladimir Putin — played by Jude Law — and also stars Paul Dano, and Alicia Vikander.
Gaumont will also showcase Francois Ozon’s comeback to the Lido with “The Stranger,” his adaptation of the Albert Camus classic exploring themes of human cruelty, existentialism and post-colonialism in 1930s Algeria.
Actor-director Valérie Donzelli is in competition with “À Pied D’Oeuvre,” a drama about a man who goes through lots of changes to pursue his latent dream of becoming a writer. The film is co-written by Donzelli and Gilles Marchand.
France also has the fest’s out-of-competition closer: Studiocanal’s dystopian thriller “Chien 51,” directed by Cedric Jimenez, starring two of the country’s most bankable actors: Adèle Exarchopoulos (“Beating Hearts”) and Gilles Lellouche (“The Stronghold”). The movie is produced by the Mediawan-owned Chi-Fou-Mi banner.
From elsewhere in Europe, Oscar-winning Hungarian helmer László Names (“Son of Saul”) is in competition with period drama “Orphan,” about a Jewish boy raised by his mother with idealized tales of his deceased father. Also competing from Hungary is the drama “Silent Friend” by Ildiko Enyedi (“On Body and Soul”), centered around a majestic tree in a botanical garden that observes humans, with an ensemble cast comprising Hong Kong’s Tony Leung Chiu-wai in his first role in a European film.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is repped in competition by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s hot-button political drama “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” about the killing of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was left stranded in a car that had been attacked by Israeli forces in Gaza on Jan. 29, 2024 and later found dead. “I think this is one of the films that will make a greater impression, and I hope not polemics,” said Barbera. He noted that Ben Hania used the real audio tapes of phone calls between the girl and her mother.
Saudi Arabian director Shahad Ameen, whose feminist fable “Scales” made a splash after launching from Venice in 2019, is back on the Lido with “Hijra,” a drama centered on the bond formed between different generations of Saudi women during a journey across the desert. “Hijra” will play in Venice’s new Venezia Spotlight section that replaces Horizons Extra.
Opening the Horizons section dedicated to more cutting-edge works is “Mother,” which marks the English-language debut of North Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska (“God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya”) and stars Noomi Rapace as Mother Teresa.
The robust Italian roster includes “Below the Clouds,” the new high-profile doc by Gianfranco Rosi whose “Sacro GRA” scooped the 2013 Venice Golden Lion and “Duse,” Pietro Marcello’s biopic of legendary Italian stage diva Eleonora Duse, played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, in competition. “A Year of School” by rising auteur Laura Samani, who made a splash with “Small Body” in 2021, is launching in Horizons, as is “The Kidnapping of Arabella,” the sophomore film by Carolina Cavalli whose “Amanda” was a standout in Orizzonti Extra in 2022. Italy’s Benedetta Porcaroli (“The Leopard”) and Chris Pine co-star in “Arabella”.
Interestingly, Italian directors have secured three of Venice’s four slots dedicated to TV series. Veteran auteur Marco Bellocchio will launch a show titled “Portobello” that reconstructs one of Italy’s most clamorous travesties of justice, while genre specialist Stefano Sollima will bow Netflix original “The Monster of Florence,” about a harrowing string of sex-related murders that took place outside Florence from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. Studiocanal series “A Prophet,” directed by Italy’s Enrico Maria Artale (“Django” the series), is an adaptation of Jacques Audiard’s 2009 film with a diverse new cast led by Mamadou Sidibé.
The fourth TV series premiering at Venice is “Etty,” an adaptation of the diaries of Dutch author Etty Hillesum, who was murdered in Auschwitz. It’s directed by Hagai Levi, the creator of Israeli TV series “Be’Tipul,” which was adapted into HBO’s “In Treatment.”
Two-time Oscar winner Alexander Payne will preside over the main jury.
The 82nd edition of Venice will run Aug. 27-Sept. 6.
See the full lineup below:
COMPETITION
“La Grazia,” Paolo Sorrentino (opening film)
“The Wizard of the Kremlin,” Olivier Assayas
“Jay Kelly,” Noah Baumbach
“The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Kaouther Ben Hania
“A House of Dynamite,” Kathryn Bigelow
“Ri Gua Zhong Tian” (“The Sun Rises on Us All”), Cai Shangjun
“Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro
“Elisa,” Leonardo di Costanzo
“À Pied d’Oeuvre,” Valérie Donzelli
“Silent Friend,” Ildikó Enyedi
“The Testament of Ann Lee,” Mona Fastvold
“Father Mother Sister Brother,” Jim Jarmusch
“Bugonia,” Yorgos Lanthimos
“Duse,” Pietro Marcello
“Un Film Fatto Per Bene,” Franco Maresco
“Orphan,” László Nemes
“L’Étranger,” François Ozon
“Eojjeol Suga Eopda” (“No Other Choice”), Park Chan-wook
“Sotto Le Nuvole,” Gianfranco Rosi
“The Smashing Machine,” Benny Safdie
“Nühai” (“Girl”), Shu Qi
OUT OF COMPETITION — FICTION
“Chien 51,” Cédric Jimenez (closing film)
“Boşluğa Xütbə” (“Sermon to the Void”), Hilal Baydarov
“L’Isola di Andrea,” Antonio Capuano
“Il Maestro,” Andrea di Stefano
“After the Hunt,” Luca Guadagnino
“Hateshinaki Scarlet,” Mamoru Hosoda
“Den Sidste Viking” (“The Last Viking”), Anders Thomas Jensen
“In the Hand of Dante,” Julian Schnabel
“La Valle Dei Sorrisi,” Paolo Strippoli
“Dead Man’s Wire,” Gus Van Sant
“Orfeo,” Virgilio Villoresi
OUT OF COMPETITION — SERIES
“Portobello” (Ep. 1-2), Marco Bellocchio
“Un Prophète” (Ep. 1-8), Enrico Maria Artale
“Etty” (Ep. 1-6), Hagai Levi
“Il Mostro” (Ep. 1-4), Stefano Sollima
OUT OF COMPETITION — NON-FICTION
“Kabul, Between Prayers,” Aboozar Amini
“Ferdinando Scianna – Il Fotografo Dell’Ombra,” Roberto Andò
“Marc by Sofia,” Sofia Coppola
“I Diari di Angela – Noi Due Cineasti. Capitolo Terzo,” Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi
“Ghost Elephants,” Werner Herzog
“Baba Wa Al-Qadhafi” (“My Father and Qaddafi”), Jihan K
“The Tale of Sylian,” Tamara Kotevska
“Nuestra Tierra,” Lucrecia Martel
“Remake,” Ross McElwee
“Kim Novak’s Vertigo,” Alexandre Philippe
“Cover-Up,” Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus
“Broken English,” Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth
“Zapiski Nastoyashego Prestupnika” (“Notes of a True Criminal”), Alexander Rodnyansky and Andriy Alferov
“Director’s Diary,” Aleksander Sokurov
“Hui Jia” (“Back Home”), Tsai Ming-liang
OUT OF COMPETITION — FILM & MUSIC
“Nino. 18 Giorni,” Toni D’Angelo
“Piero Pelù. Rumore Dentro,” Francesco Fei
“Newport and the Great Folk Dream,” Robert Gordon and Joe Lauro
“Francesco de Gregori Nevergreen,” Stefano Pistolini
OUT OF COMPETITION — SHORTS
“Origin,” Yann Arthus-Bertrand
“Boomerang Atomic,” Rachid Bouchareb
“How to Shoot a Ghost,” Charlie Kaufman
HORIZONS
“Mother,” Teona Strugar Mitevska
“Komedie Elahi” (“Divine Comedy”), Ali Asgari
“Hiedra,” Ana Cristina Barragan
“Il Rapimento di Arabella,” Carolina Cavalli
“Estrany Riu” (“Strange River”), Jaume Claret Muxart
“Hara Watan” (“Lost Land”), Akio Fujimoto
“Grand Ciel,” Akihiro Hata
“Rose of Nevada,” Mark Jenkin
“Late Fame,” Kent Jones
“Milk Teeth,” Mihai Mincan
“Pin de Fartie,” Alejo Moguillansky
“Otec” (“Father”), Tereza Nvotova
“En El Camino,” David Pablos
“Songs of Forgotten Trees,” Anuparna Roy
“Un Anno di Scuola,” Laura Samani
“The Souffleur,” Gastón Solnicki
“Barrio Triste,” Stillz
“Human Resource,” Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
“Funeral Casino Blues,” Roderick Warich
VENICE SPOTLIGHT
“Hijra,” Shahad Ameen
“Un Cabo Suelto,” Daniel Hendler
“Made in EU,” Stephan Komandarev
“Motor City,” Potsy Ponciroli
“La Hija de la Española,” Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás
“À Bras-Le-Corps,” Marie-Elsa Sgualdo
“Calle Malaga,” Maryam Touzani
“Ammazzare Stanca,” Daniele Vicari
