Some years the Venice competition feels like a splashy hotel lobby—expensive but forgettable. Not this time. The 82nd edition, bowing August 28 through September 7, is shaping into something different. Older. Meaner. Less dressed up for clicks. And maybe—just maybe—built to last.
We already knew Alexander Payne would preside over the jury. This week, we learned who's in the arena. The contenders? A mix of cold-blooded masters, curious risktakers, and yes, a few familiar faces who still think grayscale equals gravitas. Here's the full lineup of main competition films as it stands—every one of them eyeing the Golden Lion.
🎥 Main Competition Lineup – 82nd Venice Film Festival (Aug 28 – Sep 7, 2025)
- After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino)
Italy's favorite sensualist trades skin for academia in what's rumored to be his coldest film yet. - A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)
Bigelow returns—presumably with fewer politics, more explosion. - Jay Kelly (Noah Baumbach)
Divorce and depression? Again? Maybe. But Baumbach rarely misses on rhythm. - Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos)
Lanthimos adapts a 2003 Japanese sci-fi satire. Expect cruelty disguised as whimsy. - Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro)
The long-awaited gothic opus. Could be a career-definer—or a cautionary tale. - The Smashing Machine (Benny Safdie)
Dwayne Johnson plays Mark Kerr. Safdie directs. If it works, it'll hurt. - Father Mother Brother Sister (Jim Jarmusch)
Jarmusch. Family drama. Probably shot on 16mm. You know the drill. - The Ballad of a Small Player (Edward Berger)
The man behind All Quiet goes noir. Set in Macau. Stars Colin Farrell. - No Other Choice (Park Chan-wook)
The title fits. Park rarely chooses wrong. - La Grazia (Paolo Sorrentino) — Opening Night Film
That's confirmed. September 28, he opens Venice again. The Vatican's probably involved. - The Wizard of the Kremlin (Olivier Assayas)
Adapting the real-life Russian political novel. Ice-cold material for the warmest of auteurs. - In the Hands of Dante (Julian Schnabel)
Depp. Franco. Schnabel. Set across centuries. Might be brilliant. Might be agony. - Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold)
The sleeper, perhaps. A small story from a meticulous filmmaker. - Hamnet (Chloé Zhao)
Shakespeare's son. Shot in natural light. Your mileage may vary. - Orphan (László Nemes)
Nemes returns to Europe's haunted soil. Let's hope it's less mannered this time. - Untitled/Gaza (Kaouther Ben Hania)
No title. No synopsis. No shortage of nerves around this one. - One Year of School (Laura Samani)
One of Italy's most promising young voices. If it lands, it stays with you. - Mother Bhumi (Chong Keat Aun)
A surprise out of Malaysia. The committee was reportedly floored. Worth watching. - Below the Clouds (Gianfranco Rosi)
Another visually sparse, sonically loaded doc-poem. Rosi is Rosi. - Duse (Pietro Marcello)
A biopic of Eleonora Duse, shot in Marcello's signature 16mm collage style. - I Wanted to Kill Her (Leonardo Di Costanzo)
Italian social realism. Quiet. Gritty. Not for the attention-deficit crowd. - The Stranger (François Ozon) — World Premiere
Based on Camus. In black-and-white. Benjamin Voisin stars. French release set for October 2025. - À pied d'œuvre (Valérie Donzelli)
Third of the three “locked” French titles. Lightly surreal, I'm told. We'll see. - Chocobar (Lucrecia Martel)
If it's ready. If. It's been in the editing suite since the Trump administration. But if it plays? It'll stir things.
It's not a loud list. Not one begging for hashtags or digital rounds of applause. And that's a relief. After the TikTokification of Cannes earlier this year, Venice seems to be opting for craft over clicks. Or at least trying to.
No sign of Paul Thomas Anderson. No Gregg Araki. Angelina Jolie's Couture got passed on. And Herzog—dear Herzog—will screen Bucking Fastard out of competition, while collecting his honorary Golden Lion in what might be the most deserved award this festival's handed out in years.
In a season increasingly defined by noise, this year's Venice slate—at least on paper—feels built for silence. And for watching.
Will it hold up? Or will it buckle under its own sobriety?
Either way, it's a lineup that finally respects the screen again.
