7 Most Anticipated and Discussed Films from the 81st Venice Film Festival

The festival’s opening film was the long-awaited sequel to Burton’s 1988 cult classic Beetlejuice. According to the plot, the action takes place forty years after the events of the first film. Lydia’s daughter Astrid (played by Jenna Ortega – the main gothic star of the moment) finds a mysterious model of the city in the attic. Suddenly, a portal to Hell opens and Beetlejuice emerges. Interest in the film is fueled not only by the reunion with the beloved characters (Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara reprised their roles), but also by the romance between director Tim Burton and Monica Bellucci. The couple arrived in Venice together, which means that beautiful appearances on the red carpet await us.

Fashion lovers, get ready: another Gaga show is coming! Six years after her triumphant appearance on the red carpet in pink Valentino feathers for the premiere of A Star Is Born, Lady Gaga returns to Venice with a new role as the crazy Harley Quinn, the Joker’s girlfriend.

The studio decided to launch the project after the film “Joker” grossed $ 1.079 billion with a budget of $ 55-70 million. Viewers are waiting to see where the writers will spin the plot, because Phillips initially said that the film was not intended for a sequel, and how they will deal with genre experiments, because “Madness for Two” is a musical, a thriller and a drama at the same time. And of course, the main intrigue is whether the film will win an award, since it is included in the main competition program of the festival.

We just hope that this time there won’t be any PR novels!

Angelina Jolie’s first role in three years and another biopic by Pablo Larraín. After the films about Princess Diana and Jackie Kennedy, the Chilean director has embarked on the film adaptation of the tragic life of opera diva Maria Callas. The film will focus on the star’s last years, when, having lost her voice, she led an isolated life in Paris, but it will not do without mentions of her love for Aristotle Onassis either.

Many criticized the choice of Jolie for the main role, believing that the actress has absolutely no temperament and is unlikely to support the image of a passionate Greek woman. It is all the more interesting to wait for the premiere. The film was included in the main competition of the festival.

Jolie’s ex is also going to Venice with the premiere, but you shouldn’t expect any unpleasant encounters on the red carpet – here the organizers have already tried to separate the ex-spouses in time. There is also nothing to share between Pitt and Jolie at the festival – the film “Lonely Wolves” is being screened out of competition. In the story, two professional cleaners who prefer to work alone are forced to cooperate after being hired to perform the same task.

Brad and George Clooney are not only the main actors of this action comedy, but also the producers. Moreover, it is already known that work on a sequel has begun.

An erotic thriller with a rather predictable plot: a successful businesswoman begins an affair with her much younger intern. But the star cast clearly takes this film out of the ordinary category, and the director promises that the film will be “really hot.” In general, the film found a place in the competition program – we will find out if it was deserved. But it will certainly be interesting to see Nicole Kidman, who, 25 years after the film “Eyes Wide Shut”, again stars in an agonizing erotica.

The shooting apparently left an unforgettable impression on the actress, and working on some episodes required all possible strength.

“At one point I thought, ‘I don’t want to be touched. I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s something you usually prefer to hide in your home videos rather than show to the world,'” Kidman said of the shoot.

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s English-language feature debut is being described in the press as a stylish but chilling drama. The film is based on Sigrid Nunez’s 2020 novel, What Are You Going Through?

The plot centers on the relationship between two friends – Martha and Ingrid – whose paths once diverged. After years of separation, they find themselves in strange circumstances. Things take an unpredictable turn when Martha (Swinton) begins to mold herself into Ingrid’s image. Critics are already comparing the film to Bergman’s Persona, but Tilda Swinton described the film as “a natural continuation, oddly enough, of Pain and Glory (Almodóvar’s 2019 film starring Antonio Banderas – Editor’s note).”

The film is taking part in the main competition. In Venice, the most influential Spanish director of our time has so far only received the Honorary Golden Lion of St. Mark for his contribution to cinema.

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Out of competition, Alfonso Cuaron will present his third television series written and directed for Apple TV+. The revenge thriller starring Cate Blanchett is based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Renee Knight. In the story, renowned journalist Catherine Ravenscroft, who has made a career exposing the misdeeds and crimes of others, discovers that she is the central character in a novel in which her darkest secrets are revealed.

The seven-episode project, aimed at a general audience, is scheduled to premiere on October 11.

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