venice film festival reviews
‘Society of the Snow’ Review: J.A. Bayona Blends Visceral Action With Existential Despair in Overlong but Affecting Survival Thriller
The 1972 crash in the Andes of a charter flight from Uruguay and the harrowing ordeal of its survivors get intense treatment in this Spanish-language feature from Netflix.
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‘Out of Season’ Review: An Ideally Paired Alba Rohrwacher and Guillaume Canet Consider Roads Not Taken in Stéphane Brizé’s Rueful Romance
A famous screen actor in a moment of career crisis retreats to a coastal spa town, where an encounter with an old flame stirs up unresolved feelings from the past.
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‘Lubo’ Review: Even Franz Rogowski’s Intensity Can’t Keep This Rambling Tale of Historical Injustice in Focus
Switzerland’s cruel treatment of itinerant Yenish communities during World War II forms the spine of Giorgio Diritti's drama of cultural eradication and a man obsessed with finding his stolen children.
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‘Memory’ Review: Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard Are Riveting as Broken People Fumbling for Connection in Michel Franco’s Moving Drama
The Mexican auteur’s Brooklyn-set third English-language film also features Josh Charles, Merritt Wever, Jessica Harper and promising newcomer Brooke Timber.
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‘Woman Of…’ Review: Malgorzata Szumowska’s Affecting Character Study Rescues Polish Trans People From the Invisible Margins
Written and directed with regular creative partner Michal Englert, the film traces one woman’s 45-year struggle to find personal freedom.
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‘Enea’ Review: Pietro Castellitto Takes a Superficially Slick, Unfocused Snapshot of Superficially Slick, Unfocused Roman Rich Kids
The writer-director leads a populous ensemble that includes his father, Sergio Castellitto, in a study of generational privilege and emptiness produced by Luca Guadagnino.
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‘In the Land of Saints & Sinners’ Review: Liam Neeson’s Gravitas Can’t Save This Barrow Full of Irish Clichés
Kerry Condon, Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds also star in Robert Lorenz’s Western-inflected showdown between a reclusive hired gun and a vengeful IRA terrorist, premiering in Venice.
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‘Sky Peals’ Review: Intimate British Character Study Chronicles a Multiracial Man’s Estrangement
Moin Hussain’s first feature, about a British-Pakistani man trying to make sense of the strange and unwelcoming world he lives in, premiered in the Critics’ Week sidebar at Venice.
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‘Making Of’ Review: Cedric Kahn’s Playful French Dramedy About the Fraught Filmmaking Process
The latest feature from the director of 'The Goldman Case,' about a movie shoot that seriously flies off the rails, premiered out of competition in Venice.
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‘Priscilla’ Review: Sofia Coppola’s Quietly Affecting Portrait of Priscilla Presley’s Years With Elvis
Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi play Priscilla and Elvis in a film that traces the arc of one of America’s most famous love stories, centering the experience of the young woman caught up in a romantic daydream.
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‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Review: Ryusuke Hamaguchi Follows ‘Drive My Car’ With an Unsettling Reflection on Man and Nature
A Tokyo company’s poorly planned project to build a luxury camping retreat near a small rural community creates conflict when it threatens the purity of the village’s spring water supply.
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‘Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros’ Review: Frederick Wiseman’s Four-Hour Doc Is a Mouth-Watering and Methodical Marathon for Foodies
The 93-year-old director’s latest feature, premiering at the Venice Film Festival, focuses on a Michelin 3-Star restaurant run by the same family for four generations.
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