Venice International Film Festival 2022: What To Watch For

This week marks the beginning of the 79th Venice International Film Festival. Because of its place in the release calendar, it is a major event for awards season as studios and distributors begin jockeying for position going into the BAFTAs, Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and other major awards shows. Unlike past years where headlines have been dominated by major studio releases like Dune and Joker (although the French film Happening took home the top prize last year and Nomadland
the year before), this year’s lineup does not have the same major franchise power behind it that past years, and other festivals this year like Cannes, have had. Here are some of the movies to keep an eye out for as press and audience reactions start to come out.

White Noise: Acclaimed director Noah Baumbach directs material that is not his own for the first time in his career. Reuniting with Adam Driver (most audiences will know him as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy but he also starred in past movies from Baumbach including Frances Ha and Marriage Story) and Greta Gerwig (also starred in Frances Ha and acclaimed director of films like Little Women in her own right) to adapt Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel of the same name. The movie will debut on Netflix this December, however it will also be playing at the New York Film Festival in late September.

Bardo (or False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths): Alejandro González Iñárritu’s next film following up the acclaimed Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Revenant, makes its debut before also being distributed by Netflix. Not much is known about this film besides the fact that it follows Daniel Giménez Cacho who plays a Mexican journalist and immigrant. This movie is almost certainly a contender for major awards later this year and will open on Netflix before year’s end.

TÁR: Todd Field directs this biopic about legendary classical music composer Lydia Tár, played by Cate Blanchett. The early buzz about this movie is that it could make a serious Oscar run, with Cate Blanchett making a strong case for Best Actress, similar to Kristen Stewart in Spencer last year. It opens theatrically on October 7th, 2022.

The Whale: Darren Aronofsky’s family drama about a 600-pound man (Brandon Frasier) who is trying to reconnect with his estranged family makes its debut at Venice. The image released of Frasier in a combination of weight gain and prosthetics for the role captured viewers imaginations and Frasier’s performance is gaining a lot of buzz. The movie will make its North American debut at the Toronto Film Festival later in the month before getting a theatrical release.

The Banshees of Inisherin: Martin McDonagh’s (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) latest film stars Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, and Barry Keoghan in a film about two friends who have their friendship abruptly end with disastrous consequences. After Venice, it will make its North American debut at Toronto before having a limited theatrical release on October 21st, 2022.

Don’t Worry Darling: Olivia Wilde’s latest film is probably the biggest name coming to the Venice International Film Festival this year and the film general audiences are probably most familiar with, since the trailer has been attached to every theatrical release for the last few months. This movie stars Florence Pugh (Yelena in Black Widow
and Hawkeye) as Alice who is married to Jack (Harry Styles) that live together in an idyllic 1950s suburb where things are not what they seem. It comes out in theaters on September 23rd, 2022.

Blonde: This will be my first and last word on this title because there is something profoundly uncomfortable about what this movie is bringing to the table. Honestly, the only reason it made this list was so I could get this out of my system and then never address this film again. Netflix is distributing this title that features Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in an NC-17 rated fan fiction (the only movie of 2022 to receive that rating and only movie released on any streaming service with that rating) about her life. Where Elvis took liberties with the life of Elvis Presley to keep the image consistent with what his estate would like him to be remembered as, Blonde
is taking liberties to a degree where the movie cannot be legitimately called a biopic, however it is being presented as it is a factual account of events. Couple that with what is known about her life, it is not a fair or positive portrayal of things that happened to Marilyn Monroe. That said, the movie will be making its debut in Venice before moving to Netflix for general audiences.