Venice Film Festival unveils star-studded lineup with del Toro, Emma Stone, and Safdie leading the charge

A dazzling kickoff tomorrow kicks off in grand style

The Venice Film Festival returns in full force with its 82nd edition, running August 27 through September 6, 2025. A constellation of Hollywood icons and celebrated auteurs will grace its lineup, fueling festival buzz and setting high expectations.

Among the competition are heavyweight titles including Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Yorgos Lanthimos’s sci‑fi farce Bugonia with Emma Stone, and Benny Safdie’s MMA saga The Smashing Machine, a mix sure to capture headlines.

Del Toro’s Frankenstein promises gothic grandeur

Guillermo del Toro brings Frankenstein to the Lido, with Oscar Isaac playing Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature. The highly anticipated film will premiere in competition at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, marking one of the most talked-about entries in this year’s lineup.

The Netflix-backed adaptation draws on classic Gothic roots and features haunting visuals. First-look images tease a dark, elegant reimagining that stays true to del Toro’s signature style.

Stone reunites with Lanthimos for surreal sci‑fi

Emma Stone reunites with director Yorgos Lanthimos in Bugonia, an English-language remake of the 2003 South Korean cult classic Save the Green Planet!.

In a dark sci-fi comedy twist, Stone and Jesse Plemons play conspiracy‑obsessed kidnappers convinced that a powerful CEO, portrayed by Stone, might be an alien bent on Earth’s destruction.

The film is one of the most talked-about titles in this year’s Venice Film Festival main competition, generating strong early buzz among critics and audiences alike.

Safdie captures MMA drama with star power

Benny Safdie directs The Smashing Machine, an upcoming biographical sports drama about MMA legend Mark Kerr. Dwayne Johnson portrays Kerr, with Emily Blunt cast as his wife, Dawn Staples, offering a grounded, emotionally impactful role.

The film has already attracted strong early buzz as a competition entry at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, with coverage noting Johnson’s dramatic transformation and the project’s intense, character-driven tone.

Ava DuVernay’s latest film lands in competition

Ava DuVernay directs Origin, a sweeping biographical drama based on Isabel Wilkerson’s groundbreaking book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. The film follows Wilkerson across the U.S., India, and Nazi Germany as she explores the structural parallels of caste-based oppression.

Aunjanue Ellis‑Taylor delivers a powerful lead performance as Wilkerson, while Origin stood out as an American entry competing for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, cementing DuVernay’s growing global influence.

Mona Fastvold brings Shaker history to Venice

Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee premieres in competition, with Amanda Seyfried portraying the charismatic 18th-century leader of the Shaker Movement, revered by followers as the female Christ.

Co-written with Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), the drama draws on true events. It’s part of Netflix’s strong 2025 Venice slate, which features three high-profile competition titles on the Lido stage.

Focus shifts to strong women behind the camera

Women directors are well represented at Venice in 2025. Kathryn Bigelow returns with A House of Dynamite, while Mona Fastvold directs The Testament of Ann Lee, both competing for the Golden Lion.

Their inclusion in this year’s main slate underscores a growing presence of women-led films among the festival’s most prestigious offerings.

Safdie’s gritty aesthetic meets high-octane action

The Smashing Machine explores the real-life story of MMA fighter Mark Kerr and his battles with addiction. Cinematographer Maceo Bishop shot the film on 16 mm, giving it a gritty, documentary-style realism.

Early coverage praises Dwayne Johnson’s dramatic transformation, calling it his most emotionally raw performance to date. The film is being recognized as a pivotal shift in both Johnson’s acting career and Benny Safdie’s directorial evolution.

Emma Stone eyes another Golden Lion?

Emma Stone won the Golden Lion for Poor Things at the Venice Film Festival in 2023. Her return in Bugonia, also competing this year, has sparked fresh buzz about the possibility of a back-to-back win.

This marks her fourth collaboration with director Yorgos Lanthimos, underscoring their evolving creative partnership and continued dominance on the global festival circuit.

Documentary slate tackles climate and culture

This year’s Venice documentary slate features Marc by Sofia by Sofia Coppola, Werner Herzog’s Ghost Elephants, and Laura Poitras’s Cover‑Up.

Each project offers a distinct lens, spanning personal portraiture, wildlife, and investigative journalism, highlighting Venice’s embrace of globally relevant nonfiction.

Their inclusion alongside major narrative premieres underscores the festival’s continued commitment to high‑profile documentaries, cementing nonfiction as a vital counterpart to narrative filmmaking at the Lido.

Julia Roberts makes Venice debut with Guadagnino’s After the Hunt

Julia Roberts walks the Venice red carpet for the first time, starring in Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt. Though screening out of competition, the film is already drawing attention.

Roberts plays a professor entangled in an academic scandal, marking a dramatic turn in a festival stacked with prestige performances and major international debuts.

Global auteurs and star-studded ensembles light up Venice

Mubi makes a strong showing with Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia starring Toni Servillo, Jim Jarmusch’s triptych Father Mother Sister Brother led by Cate Blanchett, and Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice.

Out-of-competition highlights include Julian Schnabel’s In The Hand of Dante with Oscar Isaac and Gal Gadot, plus Gus Van Sant’s tense Dead Man’s Wire featuring Bill Skarsgård and Al Pacino.

Valérie Donzelli returns with a tale of transformation

French actor-director Valérie Donzelli competes at Venice with À Pied D’Oeuvre, a thoughtful drama about a man radically reshaping his life to pursue a long-suppressed dream of becoming a writer.

Co-written with Gilles Marchand, the film explores creative rebirth, personal upheaval, and the quiet courage it takes to change course mid-journey. It’s a grounded, introspective entry in this year’s competition.

David Gilmour hits the big screen with a mind-bending IMAX concert film that turns Luck and Strange into pure cinematic atmosphere.

Star power sets the stage for awards season

With Oscar hopefuls, international auteurs, and bold newcomers all sharing the same stage, Venice is shaping the awards conversation early. Critics, streamers, and studios are watching closely.

This year’s mix of prestige and spectacle has set the tone: Venice is no longer just about arthouse, it’s about cinematic ambition across genres, styles, and generations. Awards season has officially begun.

And speaking of cinematic ambition, Reese Witherspoon is quietly dominating the streaming world. Here are 15 of her most compelling projects you can watch right now.

If this lineup has you excited for awards season, give us a thumbs up and drop your favorite pick in the comments; we’re all ears.

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This slideshow was made with AI assistance and with human editing.